The Elemental Demigoddesses
by soniccore27
Summary: Join Azalea, the average teen from Earth, who is taken to Mobius to help fight against the sinister Robotnik in order to end the raging war. Along the way, she meets Sonic and his friends, and discovers her own fate: leader of a group of astonishing beings known as the Elemental Demigoddesses, who are meant to save everyone. OC based; rated T for violence and swearing.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello there, fellow viewers! This is soniccore27 here, with my first fanfiction EVAH! I've been so excited to start this project, and now I'm finally starting! I'm very new at the writing business, so any constructive criticism and comments are welcome. **

**Note: SONIC APPEARS IN CHAPTER 2 FOR ALL WHO ARE CONCERNED. READING THE FIRST CHAPTER WILL GIVE IMPORTANT CLUES, BACKGROUND INFO, AND CHARACTER SUBSTANCE THAT WILL LATER BE USED IN THE STORY. READING THIS CHAPTER IS NOT ESSENTIAL, BUT EXPLAINS IMPORTANT FACTORS.**

**Note: Sonic and company are copyright to Sega. Azalea, Bluebell, and the Elemental Demigoddesses are owned by me.**

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**Prologue: The Sacrifices We Make **

The eight of the women ran along the edge of the battlefield, careful to avoid flaming demons flying over their heads, or otherwise hazardous objects/creatures. With their assorted weapons drawn, they looked up at their target: a tall lady hidden within a night-black cloak, a swimming black aura surrounding her body. Her eyes, the only seeable thing through the lady's cloak, were glowing a neon, pupiless yellow.

"You are too late," the demonic lady cackled. "I've already sent my subjects to find the eight girls. They will be Purified and Roboticized once they are brought to me, along with their newly found planet and friends and family."

The lady gradually made her way to a small remote levitating in the air and picked it up with eager hands. All of the eight ladies gritted their teeth and stepped hesitantly forward. They knew that if she clicked that button…

"CHARGE!" the leader of them screamed, as they ran forward in a rush of bright assorted colors. They heard a small _click! _and their hearts stopped beating.

The battlefield went black.

**Chapter 1 **

**A Book on the Doorstep **

**Azalea's P.O.V.**

OK, first things first. I'm a demigoddess.

Yes, I know what you're thinking: _Wow, that's how you start a story? Don't you think that's a little extreme?_ Well, I can assure you that this is not an overstatement. My other seven friends and I are demigoddesses with extreme abilities and powers. And we are NOT insane. And if you find this message, I'm giving you a piece of advice: once you begin uncovering these messages, there is no turning back. The Elemental Demigoddesses, all of us sitting in this conference room right now, are depending upon you to spread the word.

Now as part-time narrator, I'm gonna start this at the very beginning.

Hello, I'm Cordelia Dewobsidian, although I go by Azalea, which is my non-Aurorian name, my most common mortal name. Let's begin.

So at the beginning of my life, I was perfectly normal. I was cute, happy, and had the urge to dye my hair an electric-blue. OK, so maybe I wasn't perfectly stable, but I was sort of normal. Considering that I lived in California, the state of Hollywood, movies, Disneyland, and a tree with a hole in the center that's vast enough for SUVs and limos to drive through, I considered myself one of the most normal people I knew. Anyways, this whole weird fiasco started in the summer before the 8th grade. My dad had finally let me dye my raven-black hair the shade of blue I wanted and it was permanent dye, and my swim team received first place in a statewide tournament where only the best of the best went to, so I was ecstatic. My life was fairly standard, being that I lived in a nice house in a mediocre neighborhood with a large amount of friendly people. That was probably the reason why I hadn't expected what was going to happen next.

I had gotten up around 12 and ate my breakfast, (or lunch, but whatever), that consisted of waffles and found a note on the fridge after putting back the carton of OJ.

_Dear Azalea, _

_Had to go into work early to do some important work for my boss. Will probably be back around 10 at night unless something else comes up. Don't sleep in too late! _

_Sincerely, Dad_

I sighed and folded up the note, plopped it onto my plate and chugged down the rest of my orangey drink. Dad was a little too late. I washed the dishes, tossed the note into the recycling bin, then headed upstairs to shower and get ready for another sunny August day. After showering and following my usual routine, I walked into my room which had a cabin-style feel to it. Wooden floors and brown plaster wall decorated my room, along with the occasional Ke$ha or Avril Lavigine poster pinned to the wall. I searched through my closet to find something to wear. I pulled out underclothes, a one-sleeved neon-blue top, a pair of long bootcut jeans, a black pair of new Reeboks that I needed to be break in, and a black ribbon to hold my braided hair in. Then I looked at my wooden desk and saw my two most valuable possessions sitting on top of all my reading books: a necklace made of finely-carved obsidian beads, strung together with black string and a blue, sapphire teardrop charm attached and an obsidian bracelet dotted with miniature sapphires. Both of them were from my mother, who for some reason left my dad and I behind, wondering what we did wrong.

The mother I never knew.

I sighed unhappily and put on the jewelry. I had no idea why I kept the pieces of my broken heart, but I just couldn't part with them. I wore them everywhere, with everything I owned. I shoved into my pocket the rest of my usual possessions; my headphones and blue iPod Shuffle, loaded with genres of pop music, my house key, and a small piece of paper with my dad's cell number. My poor dad had been so overworked lately that I never even bothered calling him. Although he earned a lot of money and we were well to do, I missed the times when he spent time with me reading books and taking me on trips to fairs and such. I really wished he didn't have to work so often as a lawyer. A sudden knock at the door disturbed my thoughts about Dad as I headed downstairs, taking three steps at a time, to answer the door. When I opened the brass knob, there was nobody there.

_ Probably a prank,_ I thought to myself. _Bluebell_ (my BFF)_ probably left a note to tell me to hurry up._ But before I closed the door, I saw something small and shiny glint on the porch. I reopened the door and kneeled down to examine the light. It was a gold magnet, which binded together a book.

"A book?" I asked myself. I lifted the book and felt the spine of the leather cover. The bindings seemed fragile, so I blew as gently as I could to remove the thin coat of dust covering the cover. Golden engravings spelled _DE _on the top of the cover. I opened the book to the front page and it said,

These are the tales of the Elemental Demigoddesses who are now today's Modern Goddesses, Protecting Auroraopolis from the clutches of the Dark Aurora Empire. Enjoy these timeless tales.

Then something shot me right in the back, like an arrow into a target. This book contained the stories my dad, Scott, read to me when I was 5. The book contained tales of a group of superior beings called the Elemental Demigoddesses, who fought off demons called Shades and the being they served, the Dark Empress. They defended their home, Auroropolis, from the clutches of evilness. I had no idea how I still remembered this, since now I couldn't even remember my kindergarten teacher's name. I flipped through the pages carefully and remembered all of the stories Dad told me. I remembered every last story about the eight heroines of the story who called themselves the Councilwomen. They fought demons called Shades and evil masterminds to stop their world from falling into the hands of the Dark Aurora Empress and her Empire of the Underworld. Another realization came to me as I flipped through the pages. There was this one section in the book that he had always avoided.

_ Flashback... _

_ Dad and I were sitting on the couch reading a story from a book. I was the small age of 6, and loved listening to my dad's stories. As he read, I noticed he flipped through two of the book's pages. _

_ "Dad, what are you doing?" I asked curiously. "What about those two pages?" Dad looked down at me and smiled warmly. _

_ "Well sweetheart, the person who wrote this story left those two pages blank for some strange reason," Dad responded. He ruffled my head and I giggled. _

_ "OK," I said, grinning. And we read for the remainder of the night._

_ (flashback ends) _

I had the book now, but I was suspicious about it. _Which pages was it?_ I thought to myself. Pages 80 and 81 came into view and a light bulb went off in my head. These were the pages! I stared at the words on the pages. Each of the pages held two lines, one line imprinted on each page. On page 80, the one line said,

D.E.V. – see PAGE 338

"What the heck?" I asked aloud. What was D.E.V? What did page 338 out of all of the book's 600 pages have to do with this? Before I could draw even the slightest conclusion, I looked at page 81 and did a double take. The page had started to hum and golden light poured out of the page. More lines started to waver on the page. I gasped and stepped back, my eyes wide and stomach twisting into a double knot.

_Whoa! _I thought to myself. _What in the name of the great God is-?_ The light started to swirl, becoming bigger and turning faster. A small blue light erupted from the whirlpool of light.

"You," the light said dreamily. It twinkled and went through my heart, like a phantom. My bracelet and necklace started to glow. "You are the leader, the one who controls the blue water and the demigoddess who is part of the team that will save the galaxy." The voice twinkled like wind chimes and the vortex inched toward me.

"Get away!" I screamed with fright, backing up against the wall. "Who are you and what do you want with me?!"

"Bring this girl of purity and heart to the world in desperate times of need," the spirit sang. I was sucked into the vortex, along with the book. I flew into the beyond, to start the adventure of a lifetime.

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**Squeal! First chapter done! I'm sooo excited! Well, the next chapter will be introducing a certain blue hedgehog and chipmunk princess! I'll be posting (usually) every Friday- Saturday, unless stuff likes schoolwork (which is more important than this story :'( ) gets in the way. Make sure to leave comments and ratings to help me; no trolls will be allowed in MY house! That's it for now, so have a great day!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 **

**I Now Hate Magical Portals **

**Azalea's P.O.V. **

I had always wondered why pages 80 and 81 were skipped. I guess now I knew.

"KYAAAA!" I screamed as I fell down a passageway. All around me, gigantic floating hourglasses and glowing golden lights swirled around me as I fell in the abyss. There was a small _thunk!_ and I looked up to find a book in my arms. It was the book that opened up the mysterious portal!

"What the heck is going on?" I asked the glowing portal. No response. The book in my arms started to tingle and my necklace and bracelet started to radiate a brighter light. A soft humming filled the air. A woman appeared out of thin air and gazed upon me, smiling warmly. The lady was beautiful, no, astoundingly gorgeous. She had neon-blue hair which was combed straight down to her hip, a peacock-blue gown that swirled around her like rippling water, a pair of black ballet flats that glittered brightly, and a smile which resembled a warm, summer day. The lady looked a lot like me; she had my tanned skin, pink lips, black eyebrows, small nose, and bright-as-the-sky blue eyes. This lady seemed somewhat familiar, but I didn't know how.

"Hello dear Cordelia," she spoke, her voice like wind chimes. "It has been such a long time since I've seen you." I look around, wondering who she's talking to. I t takes a minute to realize she means me.

"Um, look," I tell her. "I don't know about you, but I have no idea who you are, who this Cordelia is, or where I am, but all I know is that I want to go home to my dad. So can I go home now?"

Her face changes to worry as she shakes her head. "You cannot go back to Earth, my darling."

"Why not?"

"The fates have entwined your destiny into some place other than the planet you know and love. You'll return soon enough, but for now, I must tell you this: Azalea Autumn Dewobsidian, I am Raina Rosewater, Leader of the Council of B.L.O.W.R.A.G.S. and Goddess of Water and Leadership. All your life, you have been convinced to be something you are not. You are Cordelia Rosewater, the Demigoddess of Water and Leadership. You are a heroine."

It was difficult enough to process that I was falling through a mystical portal into the beyond, but now this lady claims she's the mother that for all 13 of my years I struggled in life without AND I'm a demigoddess, too? I couldn't believe what I was hearing as I stared blankly at my 'mother.' She noticed me gawking and giggled softly. She floated towards me, keeping perfect posture while moving. My necklace and bracelet radiated brighter and brighter as she came closer. She had moved so close to me that I could smell the perfume she was wearing, which was an ocean breeze smell: salty and filled with cool air. Her hand touched my forehead and a tepid feeling shot through me, making my skin tingle. My jewelry had suddenly stopped glowing as an aura was radiating from the gems.

"You'll find you destiny," the lady cooed as she started to fade into the air. "Follow it and you shall achieve greatness…" She disappeared into thin air, leaving only me and the book behind. A weird sound began, humming like a car engine and I looked down. A huge hole had formed in the air and was sucking me in. I let out a cliché gulp and I was sucked into the portal.

"Aaaaahhh!" I screamed as I hit the ground with a loud _thump!_

"Oww…" I muttered, rubbing the back of my head. I stood up, the book tight in my grasp, and observed the area in which I was in cautiously. I was standing in dirt, with compressed pieces of metal littering the ground around me. I was standing close to a miniature cliff, which I carefully stepped over to. I gasped in shock, in awe at what I was seeing. There were huge factories and skyscrapers made purely of metal, and the city streets were swarming with robots of all shapes and sizes. Smoke filled the sky as the factories emitted clouds of the hazardous stuff, making my eyes water and my throat hurt. I coughed and turned behind me to see the border of what looked like a huge forest. The trees looked weak, but it still looked somewhat of a safety zone. I started to tip-toe towards the forest, but there was something blocking my path. I gasped and jumped back before I could run into the thing blocking me. The figure stood over six feet tall and stared down at me, a gun in its hand, pointed at my head.

"Halt citizen," it commanded me. I was frozen in place and was quaking in fear. I began to back up slowly as a turtle, carefully placing foot by foot behind me. I then ran into another robot, my back against the robot's right leg. I twisted around and he had a laser pointed at me, too.

"Hey! Let me GO!"

A female voice from behind the first robot distracted them both. I saw an opening and took my chances. I tripped robot 1, which fell to the ground, aiming its gun towards me. I ripped the weapon off its body and shot the laser in what probably would be his face. The second one fired at me, though I dodged it by doing a back flip. I was behind the robot now, and I heard more lasers firing. With the robot as my meat shield, I pushed it towards another invading robot, breaking them both. I panted heavily and stared at my hands.

_How did I do that?_ I wondered. I listened to the sparking and sizzling of broken robot parts, then heard a cough. Under the pile of broken robots, an anthropomorphic chipmunk was attempting to get to her feet, which would've happened if one of her feet wasn't stuck under a huge pile.

"Oh no," I muttered and dashed over to her to help. She looked up at me with curious blue eyes as I lifted up the robot scraps and she pulled away from them. After dropping the robotic parts on the ground, I turned to examine the girl who'd been stuck. She had red hair in a tomboy haircut that seemed a bit messy, and a blue vest and boots over her body that were a little dirty as well. She wasn't harmed though, and I was greatful that I had gotten to her just in time. After getting to her feet, she smiled at me and curtsied.

"Thank you very much, ma'am," she said. "I owe you my life." All of my thought progress came to a screeching halt as I realized what was happening. I jumped back in surprise. This animal could speak English?!

"D-did you j-just talk?" I asked, horrified.

"Well, yeah," she answered. "Can't we all?" OK, it's official. I lost my marbles.

"Well…" I muttered, my mind at a complete blank. "Who are you and where the heck am I?"

"I'm Princess Sally Acorn," she introduced herself. "And you're on the brink of Robotropolis right now."

"On what planet?"

"Um, Mobius." She looked at me curiously. "Why, where are you from?"

"Earth."

We stared at each other. She asked, "So, you're an extraterrestrial being?"

"I suppose," I answered. I turned and looked at the city below. "What is this place?"

Before Sally could answer the question, a blue blur zoomed in between us, kicking up smoke and dust in our faces. I coughed, waving the air to clear my blurry vision. The being had stopped and turned to face Princess Sally and I. The figure was blue with bright green eyes and a smirk plastered to his peach-tan muzzle. His muzzle's color was painted onto his arms and stomach and the cobalt-blue to his legs, messy quills, spines, and tail. He wore white gloves and socks, with red and white, buckled sneakers covering his feet. His ears perked straight up as he looked at Sally.

"Hey Sal," he said, his voice lower, making it seem like he was around 15 years of age, like Sally. "I heard you hollerin', so I came to-" He paused mid-sentence as he surveyed the broken bits and remains of the robots that were previously taken care of. He whistled. "Wow Sal. Looks like you did quite a bit of damage here, didn't you?"

Sally shook her head. "Actually I didn't. This new resident saved my life before you could get here. If it wasn't for her, I would be getting hauled off to the Roboticizer. So Sonic, you might want to turn the speed up by a notch." She crossed her arms and glared at him. Sonic turned his head in my direction, took an overview, and said, "You're kidding, right?"

My eyebrows knit together and Sally seemed like she was really starting to get ticked off. "Sonic, show some respect. She isn't used to the condition around here." She turned towards me. "Sorry about him, he's usually like this. He's-"

"I'm Sonic," he finished, pointing his thumb at himself. "Sonic the Hedgehog, the fastest thing on Mobius." I stared at him blankly. He noticed and stopped his intro, turning to Sally again. "Why does she not know who I am?"

Sally sighed and performed a facepalm. "Did it ever occur to you I was going to say something important?" She asked through her hand.

"Oh," Sonic said. "Sorry Sal. But seriously, who is she?" They both turned on me.

"Um…" I said. "I'm Azalea. It's nice to meet you." I held out my hand nervously. Sonic ran up to me in under a second and shook my hand firmly. Sally walked up to the both of us. "And to answer your question earlier, this is the planet Mobius. We're currently in the middle of a war against us Mobians and the sinister dictator known as Doctor Robotnik."

"Or Eggman," Sonic added. "Either way, he's a fat jerk." I thought for a moment then asked, "Are there any humans on this planet?"

"Humans?" Sally asked, her turn to be confused. After a moment, she exhaled and nodded. "Do you mean Overlanders?"

"Er, yes?"

"Well, there are others, but there aren't many at all around here."

I sighed and looked at my hands to look at the book- if it was there.

"What the-?" I questioned. I turned in a 360 degree circle, unable to find the book. Both of them gave me a strange look.

"Are you looking for something?" Sally asked me. I nodded, becoming extremely worried now.

"Yeah I am," I told her. "The way I got here was through a portal that opened when I flipped to a certain page in the book. That was probably my only ticket home and I lost it!" Sally and Sonic stared at me, but didn't seem really surprised.

"Do you know what it looks like?" Sonic queried me.

"Yeah. It's an older looking book with yellow pages, leather bindings and golden 'ED' engravings on the front." Sally and Sonic stopped listening to me and looked up at a figure behind me. Sally gasped and Sonic gritted his teeth angrily. A giant shadow had cast over the three of us and in fright, I turned to see a 10-foot tall robot in the shape of a falcon glaring at us. The steel-gray robot let out a vicious screech and slithering black wires shot out of its beak and wrapped around me, lifting me into the air.

"AAAAAAHH!" I screamed in terror. The wires constricted my stomach, making me almost lose my breakfast. I was so high off the ground that I felt sicker and I was lifted to the falcon's right eye. Inside the eye was an older man, with an orange mustache and blue glasses, wearing black leather pants and boots with a red, white, and gold-buckled labcoat over his tremendous body. He cackled maniacally and glared at the three of us.

"Are you looking for this book?" he asked me, lifting up the copy of the book for me to see. I gulped and squirmed, trying to wiggle my way out of the wires' grip. When I tried to move, hundreds of volts of electricity coursed through my body, which caused me searing pain. I screamed in agony and frustration.

"Let her go!" Sally commanded him.

"Tsk tsk," the man said. "Although you're a princess Ms. Acorn, you don't always get what you want." The wires bound tighter into my skin and I screamed again. In a flash, Sonic was darting up the falcon's leg toward me. He was going faster than I'd seen any living creature go before, avoiding obstacles in his way. The man grunted, obviously annoyed, and clicked a button.

"Let's see you try to avoid Falcon-163's homing missiles!" he shouted and laughed again. 30 or so missiles were launched into the air and started to come right after Sonic. He easily avoided the attacks, as if he had done so a thousand times before.

"Eggman, I've done this over a thousand times!" he sassed and hopped onto the robot's right wing. "Haven't you ever used common sense to say that I'll beat you again?" He curled up into a spiky ball and cut through the wires with ease, catching me and landing on the ground safely.

"Are you alright?" he asked me.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I assured him, ignoring the deep cuts in my stomach and smell of burning flesh. Sally ran up to us and asked us if we were fine. We nodded and I told them, pointing to the falcon head, "We need to get that book from him." Both of them nodded and Sonic ran toward the falcon and Sally pulled out a mini computer.

"Nicole," she told it. "Get the Freedom Fighters to us. Here are the coordinates-" She gave Nicole the coordinates and snapped the thing back onto her boot.

"Who's Nicole?" I asked her.

"New Mobotropolis's technical guardian and one of my closest friends."

"Oh. Wait, who are the Freedom-?" A force slammed against us as we fell to the dirt. The falcon had used one of its wires to trip our feet. Sonic was thrown by one of the wires and landed next to us. He had a couple of minor bruises and burns, but he seemed fine.

"Ow," he said and stood. "This definitely isn't one of my finer moments." Sally and Sonic were both still on the ground, but I had stood up and noticed that Eggman had a bright laser cannon pointed directly at us.

"Time to die!" he screamed crazily and shot the laser beam. The two of them were too late, but I wasn't.

"NO!" I screamed and jumped in front of the two, throwing out my arms to protect them. I didn't know how I was going to defend them, but I knew I had to, even if it meant taking my own life. The laser shot toward me and I knew death was approaching…

Or was it?


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey there, everyone! Thanks to all who have been reading and commenting on my story. I really appreciate it! Oh, and happy holidays, too!**

**Sonic and co. are owned by Sega. The rest of the characters are owned by me.**

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**Chapter 3 **

**Azalea the… CHINCHILLA?! **

**Azalea's P.O.V.**

I'd always wondered how I was going to die. Thank God I didn't.

I turned my head, ready to be vaporized, ready to experience whatever being roasted alive would feel like. I didn't feel anything, so I reopened my eyes and looked forward. My heart leapt into my throat as I saw a larger-than-life shield made purely out of water deflecting the laser and keeping the three of us safe. I felt all the attention on me and my glowing jewelry as Sally, Sonic, and Robotnik stopped dead in their tracks, both figuratively and literally. The doctor started to go on a swearing rant (using colorful combinations I'd never heard before), Sonic stuttered, trying to think of something to say, and Sally was frozen in place. I was breathing shallowly and let the shield drop into a large puddle of water. I gulped nervously, feeling my cheeks go beet-red, and the necklace started to glow its brightest yet. I was submerged in a pool of multiple shades of blue and black light, and shot into the air.

"WATER POWER!"

Once those words escaped my lips, the charm on my necklace completely shattered into pieces of blue and black light specks. Those specks of light multiplied into more pieces and started to swirl around me like a tornado. I felt my entire molecular structure shift around and rearrange themselves into something new. My body wasn't human anymore; it had transformed into a similar creature to my newly found companions. I felt myself shrink vertically, reaching Sonic and Sally's shorter height. My body was covered with silky, sky-blue fur, and tall ears, a white muzzle, black nose, big blue eyes, and a matching, messy, black-tipped tail appeared. I couldn't believe it myself; I was a blue chinchilla. Yes, I'm not kidding. A real life, Mobian, blue chinchilla.

_Oh. My. Gods._ I thought to myself.

Not only had my body changed, but my clothes had transformed as well. My regular clothes had melted away and were replaced by a one-sleeved, neon-blue, mini dress that ended where my thighs began. I also wore a pair of black and sparkly ballet flats over knee-high black socks, white gloves, and a navy-blue ribbon that held my long braid together. My bangs blew in the wind as the light disappeared and left me standing in my new form.

"What the heck?!" Sonic and Sally screamed in unison, confused about all that had just transpired. Honestly, I hadn't a clue as to what had happened either, so I just turned towards the evil dictator and spoke.

"You have disturbed the great balance of this planet, and for that, you shall pay! I am Demigoddess of Water and Leadership, Warrior of Auroropolis, Azalea!"

"Demigoddess Azalea?" Dr. Robotnik scoffed. He laughed at my title and was laughing HARD. "Oh no! What ever shall I do? A weak chinchilla is coming to get me!" He continued cackling and I turned to Sonic and Sally, who were on their feet and were observing me uneasily. I turned back to him and thrust out my hands. I willed for a cannon of boiling water to capture the Falcon-163 and short-circuit the thing. Instantly, a huge current of water appeared out of nowhere and collapsed over the huge monster. A huge tornado filled with gallons and gallons of water blasted the falcon robot and ripped it to pieces in 20 seconds, tops. The water current finally dropped and splashed onto the ground, causing a mini tidal wave to splash onto the three of us. I didn't mind the heated water, but behind me, the two others were frozen in shock. I glanced upward to see a metal capsule containing the mad scientist and the book. The demonic scientist was teasing me with the book by shaking it at me.

"Hmmph," I grumbled, concluding that I was unable to reach him since (A) I had no idea if I could catch him from this distance and (B) I had other matters to attend to. I turned toward the drenched Sonic and Sally that stood before me and walked over to them.

"Are you guys alright?" I checked on them.

"Sure, other than being wet," Sonic answered, holding Sally and squeezing water from his quills. "But what was with that whole show with the water and such? Who are you?"

"I had no idea how I was able to do that and how I'm not even tired, and I really wish I knew who I was." Those were honest answers, and they believed me. I sighed as I saw both of themselves dry out as much as possible. Suddenly, a rustling in the bushes caught our attention. I groaned.

"Do we seriously have to fight more robots?" I asked them. Then, something unexpected came bursting out of the bushes. It was a group of four Mobians, all running towards the two I'd just met. Two of the newcomers were aiming a beeline straight for Sonic while the other two headed toward Sally. A pink hedgehog in a red dress with matching boots and ring-attached gloves tackle-hugged Sonic and squeezed him tight. A two-tailed, orange fox in white and red sneakers and white gloves jogged up to Sonic's side, grinning widely and laughing at Sonic's reaction to the girl.

"Amy! Get off me!" Sonic protested the girl named Amy, trying to pry her off him. Eventually she released him, and he rubbed his left arm, which had taken most of the impact she delivered. The orange fox gave Sonic a fist bump.

"You guys won! Great job!" he congratulated Sonic.

"Thanks Tails," Sonic told him, giving him a thumbs-up. Amy grinned widely at Sonic and started praising him like there was no tomorrow.

I turned to see the two who were after Sally. One was chatting with her and the other smiled and watched them talk. The talking one had a thick Southern accent, who was enjoying the conversation greatly. She was a yellow rabbit in cowgirl attire, with robotic legs and left arm. The observing one was a brown coyote with yellow hair and a soldier's uniform with brown boots. I coughed and the group's attention immediately shifted to me.

"Oh mah stars!" the rabbit/robot exclaimed. "Sally-girl, you or Sugah-hog dun tell us that we got a visitor!" She smiled at me and waved at me, tipping her brown hat. "Hi there! The name's Bunnie D'Coolette, and this is my husband, Antoine D'Coolette."

"_Bonjour,_" Antoine greeted me, bowing slightly. "It iz an honor."

"My name is Miles Prower," the orange fox introduced himself. "But everyone just calls me Tails."

"And I'm Amy Rose the Hedgehog!" the pink girl exclaimed, hugging Sonic again. Sonic groaned, not looking at all pleased, but Amy didn't notice (or care) about his misery. I felt an anime-style sweat drop appear on my head.

"I'm Azalea," I greeted the newcomers. "Are you guys the Freedom Fighters that Princess Sally was talking about?"

"Yes ma'am," Tails answered, nodding his head. He and the other foursome looked behind me and their eyes widened. "Whoa, what did you guys do?" I turned and saw they were staring at the remaining scrap piles of Falcon-163.

"Erm…" I said. They looked at me like I was some sort of weird biological specimen, about to explode into colorful bits. My cheeks flushed a bright pink, which made it stand out since I was completely dressed in blue and black, and my ears and tail drooped.

"I'll explain," Sally covered me. I smiled weakly, mouthing _Thank you _to her. She nodded and filled the group on everything that had just occurred. I flinched at parts Sally described of me fighting off baddies and transforming, but Sonic comforted me by saying I was just being modest. In my own head, I was trying to fit together pieces of the puzzle that confused me, but they wouldn't fit in the right place so I could get a clear picture of what was going on.

_My name is Azalea. Or Cordelia, if that lady in the vortex was right. I've been transported to a planet called Mobius, where it has been taken over by an evil dictator named Dr. Robotnik and where evolved animal species fight to defend it. Now I've become one of them and I find out I'm the leader of a group of others like me called the Elemental Demigoddesses. Great._

After creating that brief summary of what had just happened, I'd come out of my thinking just in time for Sally to finish explaining. I had expected them to be frightful of me, to run away in horror at what I had become. Instead, they looked worried about everything.

"So things have been rough for you, huh?" Tails asked me. I nodded, depressed. There was a brief moment of silence that left everyone in their own thoughts. Suddenly-

"Halt Freedom Fighters. You are under arrest."

We whipped around to see an army of 50 or so robots, pointing their guns and lasers at us. The Freedom Fighters gazed upon the enemies and stepped forward. Then Sally let out a command.

"Freedom Fighters: CHARGE!"

The once peaceful group gushed forward to fight. Sonic started spin-dashing robots, as did Tails. Amy, who was now carrying a huge red and yellow mallet twice the size of her body, started smashing robots to pieces. Antoine drew a sword and started slicing the robots to bits, while Bunnie's robotic arm changed into a laser-charged cannon and started to fire down robots, and Sally went hand-to-hand combat. I gawked blankly at them, unable to describe how they changed from peaceful people to a battle army so quickly. I concluded since the team name was "the Freedom Fighters," that would probably mean they had fought a plentiful amount of times. Suddenly, a voice-

_Use your bracelet._

I jumped back in shock and surprise. A voice in my head just spoke?!

_Use your bracelet,_ it said again. _It will become a weapon you can use to fight with._

I gulped and stared, astounded, at my bracelet. Sighing, thinking I had lost my mind, I snatched up my bracelet and held it above my head. The bracelet twinkled and started to hum and shine a bright black and blue light. The bracelet flew out of my hand and transformed into a weapon. As the light faded away, I saw the new weapon; it was an obsidian, three-foot tall trident, with blue sapphires on the three tips of the heads. I gripped the middle of the trident and glared mischievously at the robots. I leapt onto one of the robots and stabbed my trident through its head. It powered down and fifteen or so robots turned in my direction to stare at what I had just done. The four Freedom Fighters gawked at me too, their jaws dropped. Sally and Sonic, however, didn't look surprised one bit.

I decided to make the first move, and with a loud battle cry, I threw the trident at another robot, aiming a perfect hit at the robot's center and it fell to the ground. The battle continued, but this time, I was now being monitored as a threat. I leaped past some robots to pick up my trident, which I snagged, and jumped backward to get back in action. I dodged lasers and bullets with surprising agility and used my trident and water powers to fight against the evil robots. I helped with the Freedom Fighters and in under 5 minutes, the robots were obliterated. That was the first time I'd ever fought any evil being and it felt (strangely) good. Everyone seemed very happy about tasting victory, and Sally smiled at me.

"You seem like a good fighter," Sally complimented me. "Maybe you could be a Freedom Fighter like us." I tried to hide my happiness by blushing, but I wasn't able to do a very good job of doing so.

"Well, I don't know," I thought aloud. They stared at me, trying to convince me to join. Sonic, being the joker that he was, dropped to his knees, folded his hands, and crawled towards me. We all guffawed at his melodramatic act, and after a while, I had come to a decision.

"OK, for the time being," I decided. The others cheered in jubilation and Sally nodded her head. "But I have a question." The others went silent and listened intently. "Why do you guys want me to join? Considering how horrible this whole war is, why do you trust me?"

"Well, you're obviously oblivious about everything that's going on," Sally answered. "I mean, you didn't even know that Mobians spoke English." I kinda blushed at that comment. "That, and we're the Freedom Fighters. We always help others in need of assistance."

"And we also beat up tyrannical mad scientists who take over the world," Sonic added, grinning cockily. "So you know, we're the whole package!" The others chuckled at Sonic's addition to the discussion.

"Cool," I told them. Then, a rustling noise in the bushes took our attention as we turned toward a figure, who was crawling in our direction. Its legs were being dragged against the ground as it used its hands to grab fistfuls of dirt to heave itself to us. The being was a girl, who looked like a white chinchilla with coal-black eyes, black hair tied up in a ponytail, and who wore a black tank top with jean shorts and blue Converse sneakers. She was beaten and bloody, bruises and cuts covering most of her body. She looked up at me, her eyes basically screaming with pain.

"Azalea," she murmured weakly. "Help…" My eyes filled with tears as I recognized who that person was, and I dropped to my knees to look over her.

"Bluebell?" I asked her softly. My best friend gave me a weak grin before becoming silent and unmoving. "Bluebell?!" She didn't respond. I covered my muzzle as a lone tear trickled out of my left eye. I turned up to the Freedom Fighters, my eyes pleading and desperate.

"Guys, help her! Please!"

Bunnie nodded and lifted her into her arms, using two of her non-robotic fingers to check the pulse on her wrist. Bunnie sighed with relief.

"She's alive," Bunnie informed us. "But barely. Ah'm gonna go take this poor girl to Dr. Quack's hospital. Ya'll make sure the area's safe before comin' back." She darted off into the forest, holding poor Bluebell in her arms. I sat on the ground in utter disbelief as I watched the rustling in the bushes disappear. Sonic put his hand in front of me. I grabbed it, and he helped me to my shaking feet.

"You knew who that person was?" Sonic questioned me.

"Knew?" I asked him in shock. "She's my best friend." His eyes were warm and caring as they looked at me worriedly. The others gasped in horror, looking terribly worried as well. I sighed and turned back in the Freedom Fighters' direction.

"So you guys live in a city right?" I asked them. They nodded. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" We briefly checked the area, making sure everything was secure, and we headed toward the home of the Freedom Fighters: New Mobotropolis.

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**Yeah! The Freedom Fighters are here! I hope you guys are as psyched as I am! Let me know if you think the anime style transformation is a little too much. Anyways, leave comments and constructive criticism that I can take into consideration and use for writing. I hope that everyone had a great holiday, and stay cool! (pun intended) )**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello everyone! I hope 2012 was a great year for you, and let 2013 be an even better one! 3**

**I've done some research and if you all haven't heard, Sega, due to financial troubles, is considering doing a Sonic reboot. This could mean better or worse character designs, graphics, gameplay, and changes overall to the entire franchise. Let me know in the comments below if you believe that this rumor is real or fake, and if it is true, are completely against the idea, or if you are greatful that they've finally decided to change.**

**Anyways, on with the show! -S.C.27**

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**Chapter 4 **

**Friends and Enemies, New and Old **

**Azalea's P.O.V. **

We sped off into the forest, the Freedom Fighters leading the way. Hopping over bushes and piles of green leaves of all different species, I realized how different in contrast this forest was in contrast to Robotropolis. The light breeze was warm, the trees were numerous and the sun was beating down on my head, making me sweat slightly. It seemed like it was still a late summer's day here, so I was wondering if there was any specific time difference from Earth.

"Hey, what time of the year is it?" I asked Antoine.

"It iz close to ze middle of August," Antoine replied as we ran to keep up with Sonic. "Why do you be asking?"

"This is the exact same time as it was back home," I answered. "On Earth…" Sonic and the others had slowed down and stopped in their tracks. I caught up with them, panting slightly, and peered over a bush they were looking over. I could see a fair-sized dome-home made of dirt, with a flag on top that was royal-blue and an acorn logo sewn into both sides of the flag.

"This is Freedom HQ," Sally explained to me. "This is our home base where we keep all of our plans and data, and our main headquarters for every action the Freedom Fighters perform. It's guarded, so let me get into the control room to drop the heavy artillery and shield." Sally hopped over the bush with surprising grace and continued toward the HQ. She pressed her hand against a new orange shield that had appeared and the shield evaporated into nothing. She waved her hand at us, wanting us to follow her. All of us did so, and we entered peaceful Freedom HQ.

The opening room was nice and warm, with a couple of beat-up green couches, a few dim lamps, and a table and air vent here and there. The place wasn't too shabby, considering this horrible war they were in. I undid the spell that kept me in my battle attire, which still fit me even after the transformation, and hopped onto one of the couches.

"I love your place!" I exclaimed bubbly. The girls giggled at my reaction and I grinned happily. Sonic, Tails, and Sally took one of the couches, while Antoine, Amy, and I took the other. The couches were light and cushiony, making me feel right at home. And for the remainder of the day, the Freedom Fighters described all of their great adventures together and individually. I listened eagerly with wide eyes at their tales and adventures. I was retold of how Sally was thought dead and how Sonic was convicted as murderer, and about the other global FF groups (such as their closest group and friends, the Chaotix), how Knothole was destroyed and everyone was captured and soon freed by the few who weren't captured, and about the alternate, opposite dimension known as Moebius. I was informed some of the war times like the minor and major conflicts with Robotnik and the peaceful times, like Antoine and Bunnie's marriage and musical concerts from musical sensation, Mina Mongoose and the Forget-Me-Knots.

"Mina?" I asked. "Is she like a super popular singer?"

"Yep," Amy answered. "She's one of the few musical sensations at this time of the war, and is a global inspiration. Mina and her boyfriend and manager, Ash, are living temporarily here in Freedom HQ." A knock on the door interrupted our discussion and Sally went to answer the door. At the door was a yellow mongoose with purple, long hair in a purple T-shirt, black skirt, coral-green boots, matching glove braces, and pierced, gray earrings, her face scared and tired.

"Hi Mina," Sally greeted and embraced the newcomer. Mina smiled sheepishly and hugged back.

"Hey Sally," she responded, panting. "Please help me! Ash and I were attacked by these weird black demon things! I got away to get help, but-"

On cue, a black demon shattered the glass of the window. The demon was ferocious, with a black aura, slimy black body, pupil-less yellow eyes and yellow teeth, and three sharp claws on each of its four arms and two legs. Saliva dripped from its mouth, making holes in the ground. This demon was from… The book?! That's where the demon was from; the book that teleported me here, and they were called Shades, minions of the Dark Aurora Empire, who wanted to rule Auroropolis. That was the planet the heroes in the book guarded. The question was, _How did the demon manage to come into life?_ It turned on me and the black triangle on the top of its head shuddered, hissing at me. My eyebrows furrowed as I could feel it staring directly into my soul.

"Hmmm…Yesssss…" it hissed, the voice masculine and dark. "You are the one my massster ssssent for me to KILL!" He leaped towards me with remarkable agility and knocked me off my feet, lifting me into the air. He threw me out the unbroken window, sending glass flying as I flew headfirst out the door and somersaulted in the field. I stopped rolling, but my head was still spinning after tumbling and I felt cuts from the shards of glass on my forehead. I whipped around to see the demon zooming in on me from an air leap. I thrust out my bracelet, transformed it into my trident, and threw it toward the demon at top speed. The trident met its target, reducing the demon into a puff of smoke. I gave a weak smile and caught my trident.

"HA!" I gloated at the opponent. "I don't think you'll be coming back anytime soon-" I froze when I heard more hissing behind me. I turned and saw an army of 20 or so demons, all looking really hacked off.

"Aw, crap."

The demons charged toward me and I stood my ground, already transformed into my battle gear, ready to fight. Then, the Freedom HQ door burst open and the Freedom Fighters came speeding out. I smiled, knowing that in this fight I wasn't alone.

"I'm gonna go find Ash!" Sonic informed us.

"Alright! Azalea, Tails, you guys accompany him!" Sally commanded. We nodded and sped into the forest.

Sonic and Tails took the lead, while I stayed a little ways behind them to check any suspicious areas for a yellow mongoose Mobian in casual wear and dumb-looking glasses (Sonic's description, not mine). Tails signaled to us and we sped over to him.

"A lake?" I asked him, looking around at the curious civilians.

"This isn't just any lake," he explained. "This is the Lake of Rings, the place where Sonic obtains his special Power Rings to give him an extra boost in battle." That seemed like a fairly good explanation as to what a lake would be doing out in the open. Suddenly-

"HELP!"

We whipped around and saw another yellow mongoose (judging by his voice, he was a dude), much to his distress, being constricted by a tentacle, belonging to a Shade. My fists clenched and an idea quickly popped into my head. I turned toward the Lake of Rings and smiled. I moved my hand upward and a blast of water followed my hand. I chucked the huge ball at the demon figure, which crumbled into a pile of ash. The yellow mongoose scrambled towards us, his face petrified in fright. He wore a pair of glasses, blue jeans, a black shirt with a red mad face on it, and a pair of black sneakers.

"Ash, are you all right?" Tails asked.

"Are you insane?!" Ash screamed. "You gotta get out of here! Scourge and this purple fox are-" He was knocked to the ground by a (speak of the devil) purple fox that shot out of the bushes and slammed into Ash, back-first. The fox wore a similar outfit to mine, except her dress was purple with puffy sleeves and diamond-colored sneakers, a purple and white cap, white gloves, and her weapon, which was a tall, diamond staff, gripped tightly in her left hand. The mysterious girl looked beat-up and bruised, different cuts and bruises coating every part of her body. The fox stood shakily to her feet and stared darkly at the bushes, chuckling slightly.

"IS THAT THE BEST YOU GOT?!" the fox screamed at the bushes. Her voice was breaking and weak, but courage still wavered in her voice. She held out her staff and glared at the bushes. In under a second, a sudden flash of green bolted out of the bushes and whizzed in the direction of the fox, who used her staff as a line of defense. Sonic, Ash, Tails, and I stood watching the battle, horrified, as I saw the fox slowly start to lose her grip. She fell back and the green ball unrolled itself to reveal something horrifying. He was a green hedgehog, looking almost exactly like Sonic, except he had icy-blue eyes, red sunglasses, a dark leather jacket, and green and black sneakers. He was covered with similar injuries too. He smirked, revealing jagged teeth in his mouth and rested his foot onto the fox's stomach, which made her cough and look up at him.

"Well, well," he taunted evilly. "Whoever thought I'd beat you, Pansy? Again?" She growled, enraged, and tried to stand, only causing the hedgehog to push his sneaker deeper into her skin. I snapped out of my trance and took action.

"Leave her alone!" I shouted at the hedgehog. I summoned a force of water, which avoided Pansy and knocked him to the ground. He stood up, looking ticked off, and sped towards me.

"Whoever asked for your opinion, seaweed head?" he quipped viciously. Before he could come even close to any of us, Sonic intervened and punched the bully right in the jaw.

"What do you want with us, Scourge?" Sonic questioned him angrily. "Why'd you come from Moebius to stir up trouble?"

"Get out of my way, Blue," he threatened and pointed a shaking finger towards Pansy, who was attempting to stand. Her legs wobbled like Jell-O and she glared up at Scourge, and if looks could kill, Scourge would be road kill. "She's the reason why I'm back in this dump of a planet."

"Scourge, go burn in the afterlife," Pansy said to him, smiling. Scourge was set over the edge and he drove Sonic out of the way and darted towards Pansy. I created a water shield and blasted him away. He fell to the dirt, exhausted and unconscious. Pansy let out a weak grin and fell to the dirt, completely unconscious as well. I knelt down and felt her pulse, which beat weakly. I sighed with relief and looked up at the guys.

"She needs urgent medical attention," I informed them. Sonic nodded and lifted the girl fox into his arms, carrying her bridal style.

"I'm gonna get Purple here to the hospital," he told us. "Tails, Azalea, keep an eye on Sleeping Beauty here 'til I get back." We nodded and he bolted with the victim in his arms, and I stared curiously at the disappearing hedgehog and fox.

"Huh," I said aloud. Ash and Tails turned on me.

"What is it?" Tails asked me.

"She felt strangely…familiar."

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**Scourge is here, and we have a new character to play with! Will the mysterious purple fox named Pansy be safe, and what is her connection with Scourge? Find out in the next chapter, as we get the scoop on Pansy's back story! I'm out; stay cool! ;)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello, everyone! It's good to see you again!**

**Here is the next chapter, and it's mainly retelling the last couple of events in Chapter 4, involving Scourge and the mysterious purple fox named Pansy. This chapter, in summary, is basically the same events told from Pansy's P.O.V., so you get a feel to her backstory as well as some fighting.**

**Oh, and thanks to everyone who commented on my story. The feedback is really appreciated. :) And to a certain, worried commenter, Bluebell is currently residing in the intensive care unit of the Tommy Turtle Memorial Hospital. She's still alive, don't worry, and is being treated for her injuries. How and why this happened will be later revealed in the upcoming chapters. But anyways, enjoy!**

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**Chapter 5**

**Past and Present Collide **

**Pansy's P.O.V.**

My life, up until this point, had been a living hellhole. That I'll explain later, but for now, explanations probably should be given, huh?

This is Pansy Diamondrock talking here, Demigoddess of Earth and Courage. I'm a part of the Elemental Demigoddesses (well duh!) and am quite important to quite a plentiful amount of other residents of Mobius. But let's get away from that for now and let's see what I was doing before I was first introduced…

_Earlier in the Great Forest…_

I was walking through the forest aimlessly, bored out of my mind. I knew the Great Forest well of course, considering I'd been around to most corners of Mobius. I was a bandit, the most wanted thing on the entirety of this planet. I considered it a prize, but other Mobians thought of me as an anti-social outcast with an attitude problem. Although in real life I was actually a nice person, I'd built up such a horrible reputation ever since I was nine, into the present. See, my dad had abandoned me after I was at the small age of nine, so I rebelled against Robotnik's tyranny. Being the stubborn girl I was, I refused to back down, even though I was constantly beaten to a pulp. I made friends who I trusted, but they were ripped away from me. Dodge the Fox, one of my friends (crush #1), was Roboticized, and Bobby the Panther (crush #2), turned against me in an attempt to gain power. When he found out Ro-butt-nik had been lying and that he was using Bobby, he saved my life by taking a bullet to the back and died.

Those terrible things were what really drove me over the edge; I fought back ferociously. After the departing of my two dear, and only friends, I discovered my ability to control the earth. And soon after that, I discovered my bracelet, which turned into a three-foot long diamond staff, on one of my missions and I began to train myself to recognize my strength, power, and limits. I learned how to grow as a hero and how to bury away my past to focus on the present. I was a wanted criminal throughout any evil-infested area. Then progress came to a screeching halt when I discovered Scourge, the anti-Sonic from the alternate Mobius, Moebius.

I fell in love with him instantly, and so we met and he took me to Moebius to meet the anti-Freedom Fighters (or as they liked to refer to themselves as the "Suppression Squad"), and I stayed there for a while. Then came the snap back to reality: Scourge didn't love me, but Fiona, a red fox who turned out to be "dating" Sonic who was also part of the Suppression Squad. When they found out I knew what was happening, they sold me out to Robotnik to be Roboticized. I was turned into a robot, but good old Mom, (Ollivia Geolia, Goddess of Earth and Courage) who could've stopped ANY of the bad things that happened to me, finally decided to step in and take action. She undid the Roboticization process, except she didn't remove the metal from my bones and muscles, which resulted in super-strength. My thoughts about the past were interrupted by a haunting voice in the shadows.

"Hey, babe. Miss me?"

I flipped around only to find the green devil staring right at me. He was of course the same as ever, usual glasses, outfit, and 'tude. How Scourge had gotten into Mobius was beyond me, but this time, for sure, I was going to stop him.

"Scourge, what in the high heck are you doing here?" I snapped viciously.

"Hey, cool it," he responded, smiling from ear to ear. "I have an important matter to discuss with my loser double."

"And whatever that matter is, you aren't gonna be able to talk to him about it," I told him, balling up my fists. "Not if your mouth is so sore from punches that you can't speak."

"Fine then," Scourge challenged me. "You wanna go? Bring it." I growled and charged towards him. I realized as I began pursuing him that going head-to-head with Scourge was not the wisest strategy, so in the middle of my sprinting, I leaped upward, took out my staff, and slammed it onto his head as hard as possible. Scourge crumpled and I saw a huge bruise already starting to form on his head. He rebounded quickly though, and sped in my direction, a hacked-off expression pasted onto his face. I placed my staff in front of me and held off the full spin-dash impact. I twisted my staff to the left, causing him to slam into a nearby pine tree with extreme force. A Scourge-shaped dent formed on the trunk of the tree as he slid down the tree and fell to the dirt, sitting there holding his head.

"Oogah…" Scourge groaned. I laughed at him and his pitiful fail, causing him to explode like a volcano. He stepped up and dashed towards me. I immediately stopped laughing when I saw him hurdling towards me. And so, what a surprise, we started fighting. Boy, was he mad!

We fought each other as hard as we could. We endured hit for hit, punch for punch, and kick for kick that the other served. After about 10 minutes of head-to-head combat with Scourge, I had become exhausted, bloody, and bruised. He didn't look much better than I felt, but nevertheless, he managed to throw at me one more insult.

"You still 'dodge' as well as your stupid friends, but you never could put up a decent fight. Still can't."

"Well, you're one to talk."

Scourge angrily sped to me and slammed his elbow into my gut. I crumpled, coughing into my torn glove, Scourge glaring at me. We both froze when we heard someone yelling.

"Help! It's Scourge and this weird purple fox!" a male voice cried from the bushes. I only saw a glimpse of him, but Scourge snarled, enraged. He glared at me, the facial expression of a new idea taking over his angry face, and snickered. I scowled at him curiously, and he suddenly lifted me by my neck and threw me toward the direction the stranger had left. I flew out of the bushes with shocking force and I was hurled into the unfamiliar resident, my back slamming against his. Both of us were knocked to the dirt, and a low growl reverberated from my throat as I shakily stood to my feet. I think this is where at this point in the battle, I pretty much snapped. I hadn't noticed the others when I'd gone ballistic, so I completely unleashed my temper.

"IS THAT THE BEST YOU GOT?!" I yelled at the bushes. Suddenly, Scourge darted out of the trees after me, and I used my staff to brace myself for impact. A powerful, green spin-dash slammed against my staff, and I tried to steadily hold my ground, but I failed. I whammed into the ground hard, injured by the fall onto the hard ground. He placed his sneaker right onto my stomach and dug it into my skin.

"Well well. Whoever thought that I was going to beat you Pansy? Again?" He put more pressure onto the sneaker, increasing the pain I was feeling. I glared at him and I felt his foot lift off me.

"Leave her alone!" an angry female voice shouted at Scourge. A huge tidal wave of water swept Scourge off his feet and sent him pummeling to the dirt. I turned and saw an astonishing sight. Sonic and Tails, actual Freedom Fighters, were standing right next to the lake where Scourge and I had turned up on. I looked in the other direction and saw a blue chinchilla in a similar uniform to mine standing in front of me, with her black trident raised, blocking the path between Scourge and me. He rebounded and scowled viciously at the chinchilla and I.

"Whoever asked for your opinion, seaweed head?" he quipped back. Scourge dashed towards the chinchilla and I, but Sonic intervened, punching the jerk right in the jaw. Scourge fell to the ground, and Sonic glared at him with hatred.

"What do you want with us, Scourge?" Sonic questioned Scourge, obviously irritated. "Why'd you come back from Moebius to stir up more trouble?"

Scourge rubbed his sore jaw with one hand while pointing to me with the other. "Get out of my way, Blue. She's the reason why I'm back in this dump of a planet." I snickered at him as I shakily stood to my feet.

"Go burn in the afterlife, Scourge," I advised him. His anger towards me made him snap, and he tore Sonic out of the way, and he bulleted towards me. The chinchilla girl created a water shield that blasted Scourge off his feet. He fell to the ground, completely unconscious. I passed out just after Scourge did and the last thing I saw was the face of the chinchilla, who I knew, somehow, was going to have a great role of importance in my life.

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**OK, we've now made it full circle. I hope everyone liked the chapter, and as always, criticism is welcome. See you all next Friday! Oh, and be sure to check my profile page, which I will be working on over the next couple of days. Soniccore27 out!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hellooo, everyone! Here's this week's chapter, which is longer than usual! :) Enjoy!**

**This chapter is kindly dedicated to my band and choir teacher, who are amazing instructors, and did an awesome job at this week's concert. Great work, everyone!**

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**Chapter 6**

**My Hatred for Hospitals and a Certain Hedgehog **

**Pansy's P.O.V.**

"Look, she's waking up!"

My eyes opened groggily, and I groaned in pain. Above me was a face with ecstatic, forest-green eyes, pink hair and fur, and a smile. I blinked several times and rubbed my head.

"Ow, where the heck am I?" I muttered. My heart was thumping in my ears as I attempted to sit up. The girl moved out of the way for me to get a better glance of the white tiled room I was in.

"Take it easy," I heard another voice say. The girl helped me move into a sitting position against my pillow, and I realized that beside me and Amy Rose, we weren't alone. I leaned my head so I could look behind her and sure enough, I was right. In the room as well were the familiar blue chinchilla and blue hedgehog, both looking fairly concerned.

"You alright?" Sonic asked me. I grunted and took a look at the threesome. There were of course the two Freedom Fighters, Sonic and Amy Rose the Hedgehog, and the blue chinchilla. The familiar face had bright blue eyes, and wore a denim jacket over a black t-shirt, jeans, and a pair of blue sneakers. I shifted my position so I could get a better look at the girl.

"Who the heck are you?" I asked her, pointing a shaking finger at her.

"Name's Azalea the Chinchilla," she answered, hopping off the one of the chairs sitting next to my bed. "And thanks for the little rescue earlier."

"Uh, sure. No problem. And where the heck am I?"

"Tommy Turtle Memorial Hospital."

I felt my heart plummet into my stomach and color drain from my horrified face. "H-hospital?"

"Well, yeah," Sonic responded. "Why, were you expecting to us to leave you beaten and bloody on the ground?" Before I could respond, the door creaked open, letting a yellow duck wearing doctor equipment and a lab coat into the room. He blinked and his eyes narrowed, annoyingly.

"What the-?" the doctor asked. "What is everyone doing here?! This girl needs serious rest, not more things to worry about! Please leave, now!"

"Sorry, Dr. Quack," Azalea apologized. She and Amy scurried out of the room, but the doctor stopped Sonic before he could leave.

"Wait, Sonic." Dr. Quack put a hand (or wing?) on his shoulder, to stop him. Sonic looked at the doctor with curiosity as Dr. Quack closed the door. The doctor walked over to my bed and held out a hand.

"I should probably introduce myself. I'm Dr. Horatio Quentin Quack, or you may refer to me as Dr. Quack."

I shook his hand firmly. "Name's Pansy. Nice to meet you."

He turned to Sonic, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, tapping his foot impatiently. "What did you want to talk to us about, Doc?"

He sighed and handed me a slip of a news article. "Please, read this." Curious, I snatched up the paper and read the article. It was a section written about the most wanted Mobians, and I was on the number 1 on the most wanted list from the tyrannical porker himself. More color drained from my face, as I scanned the article.

"So I guess I'm the talk of the town, huh?" I finally murmured, after a moment of silence. Dr. Quack silently nodded his head and Sonic still had a confused look on his face.

"Why, what's going on?" Sonic questioned us, curiously. Silently and reluctantly, I handed the paper to him, which he scanned quickly (no surprise there) and I watched his eyes grow wider as he speed-read every line. He whistled. "Wow. You must do a LOT of work in order to keep that rank on Doc's list." I shrugged, which made an explosion of pain erupt from my bones and muscles in my shoulders. I flinched and Dr. Quack noticed, sighing again.

"You know, you're lucky to be alive, Ms. Pansy. With the amount of injuries you endured, it should've killed you. You better be glad your bones and muscles were Roboticized."

"Gee, thanks. That certainly makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside."

He raised an eyebrow at me, and took back the newspaper article back from Sonic, who had been gawking at the clipboard the doctor held and at the comment about my inner, metal-coated limbs.

"Yes, Sonic. She had those many injuries." He placed the article on the papers and stood. "Well, I'll be off. I've other patients to attend to. Sonic, you may stay for a short time to talk with Pansy about that… incident." He walked out of the room and closed the door behind him, leaving Sonic and I alone in the bright hospital room.

"Man…" Sonic muttered.

"What is it?"

"That clipboard that he was holding contained papers on a full body scan he performed on you to see how serious your injuries were. There were red circles and markings everywhere, labeling things like broken bones, strained muscles, and heavy blood loss. Quack was right; no one should be able to survive so many injuries and survive."

My teeth gritted as I glanced over at the blood-filled IV drip sitting beside my bed. "Yeah, I guess I'm full of surprises. And I have a question: Where is that low-life, Scourge?"

"He's in the local prison close to here, and was also medically treated. But I personally have a question: How did you and Scourge meet in the first place?" I felt my face become paler than it already was from the pain in my body and the newspaper article. I took a huge, cliché swallow and sighed.

"Scourge and I… We were kind of an item."

Silence.

"Wait, what? You and Scourge… dated?"

"Erm, yeah. We were actually dating around the time you and Fiona were." He nodded, standing up and he began to pace.

"So they were doubling us?"

"Yeah, basically. When I found out, I was REALLY ticked. I mean, after everything I'd been through…" Sonic stopped pacing and turned towards me. He wanted me to continue but I stopped myself from spilling out all my guts. I barely knew him after all. "Anyways, he had betrayed my trust, and my heart. Then he and his buds decided to beat the crud out of me before tossing me back here."

"Mmm," he muttered. Then out of the blue, he snapped his fingers and a bright spark glittered in his eyes. He sped out the door, calling over his shoulder, "I'll be right back!"

I blinked several times, making sure I wasn't dreaming about just revealing a major secret of mine to one- if not _the_ – greatest hero on Mobius. Rubbing my head, I flopped back down onto the mattress, my entire body aching. As I lay there, I tried to process what was happening.

About a minute later, Sonic was back in the hospital room, holding a glowing golden ring. I forced myself to sit back up, and I stared curiously at the ring.

Something inside my head clicked. "Is that a Power Ring?" He nodded, and walked over to me. My eyes widened as he approached me. "What are you doing with the ring?"

"I'm gonna try and heal you," he answered, holding out the ring. I gave him a questionable look. "Well, the rings have the power to heal and hopefully, they'll be able to work on you. If not, you could be in the hospital for quite a while, and judging by your reaction earlier, you hate hospitals." I shifted myself up more, looking at him still.

"Do you even know how to heal with a Power Ring?"

"Yeah. I used a ring to save my dad's life once." I sighed and stepped onto my bare feet onto the floor. A wave of pain rippled throughout my body, causing me to lose my balance and fall forward, but Sonic caught me before I ate the white tile flooring. I was blushing madly, since our faces were so close together. He pulled away and helped me to one of the walls, which I used for support to keep my balance.

"You alright?" he asked me, looking generally concerned.

"Y-yeah," I confirmed him. "Um, so what about your weird doohickey magic?"

"Oh, right." I braced myself and closed my eyes. Sonic cleared his throat, held out the ring, and cried the word, "HEAL!" A golden light erupted from the room, pouring out of the windows and forcing us both to shield our eyes. I felt this weird feeling, like I was a dusty lamp and a vacuum cleaner had sucked up all the dust, making me cleaner and fresher. I was the lamp, and the dust was all my cuts, bruises, and burns. Not only were my outer injuries healed, but my broken bones and torn muscles fixed themselves, too. The light subsided and I blinked my eyes and stared at the skin and fur that wasn't covered by the cloth nightgown, which had become clean and whole once more. I grinned at Sonic, who looked a bit exhausted, but smiled back and gave me a thumbs-up. Our happy moment was shattered when Dr. Quack, Azalea, and two unfamiliar Mobians came bursting through the door.

"WHAT ON MOBIUS DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" the doctor shrieked, looking both really hacked off and worried. "I HAVE NEVER SEEN SUCH IRRESPONSIBLE BEHAVIOR IN ALL MY-" But before he could continue his ranting, he noticed me, looking all healthy and strong. His beak dropped open, as did Azalea's (well, not her beak, but her mouth). They both started to blabber unintelligently, which would've made me laugh if it wasn't for the scenario we were in. The two other Mobians ran over to Sonic, looking appalled and shocked.

"Oh my goodness! Sonic Hedgehog, are you alright?" cried one of the Mobians, who looked to be on the verge of tears. She looked very much like Sonic, except for the tuft of blonde hair and purple dress and heels she was wearing. The other was a Robian (or Roboticized Mobian for those who don't know), who also looked very much like Sonic, except for the whole robot thing.

"Mom! I'm fine!" he assured the hedgehog, who was now sobbing. She hugged Sonic tight and cried into his shoulder.

"Bernie, let go of Sonic, please," the Robian comforted the lady.

"Oh Jules, you know how I always worry for our son," she cried, wiping the tears from her eyes.

_Wait, those are Sonic's parents?! _ I thought to myself. I felt a pang of jealousy stab into my heart. Sonic had his parents, yet mine were so out of reach. One was light years away and the other abandoned me when I was small. My eyes widened as I instantly kicked away the envious thought from my mind. Dr. Quack, who had managed to calm himself, rushed over to me and started to do a super quick check-up. He checked my temperature, heart-rate, previous wounds… the whole package. Both parents hugged their son as I saw Azalea leaning against the wall, staring sadly at the family. I wondered what she was thinking.

Sonic grinned sheepishly at his parents. "Guys, I'm fine! Really!" They released him and turned to Dr. Quack, who was now standing in front of the family.

"I'm sorry for the disturbance, Mr. and Mrs. Hedgehog," Dr. Quack apologized. "but your son did a good thing. He healed Ms. Pansy here, clearing out all of her medical issues."

"Really?" Mrs. Hedgehog managed. Both of the parents turned to Sonic. "You did that for her?"

"Yeah," Sonic replied. "I healed her the same way I healed Dad."

"Wow son," Mr. Hedgehog commented. He ruffled Sonic's quills. "Nice job." Mrs. Hedgehog whispered something into Sonic's ear, and his face turned a boiling red.

"Mom, no way!" he complained to his mother, who was giggling. I felt my face turned red as well, because it was pretty obvious that the mom had just asked Sonic if we were dating, or something close. Azalea coughed and left the room, calling over her shoulder, "I'll be in Bluebell's room if you need me."

I gave Sonic a questionable glance. "Bluebell? Who the heck is that?"

"Azalea's best friend who was transported to Mobius just like she was."

I stared at him blankly. "I'm sorry, what? She's an extraterrestrial?"

"Yep."

The look on my face must've been pretty comical, because Sonic was chuckling to himself. "What?"

"Nothing," he responded, grinning widely. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Am I allowed to leave the hospital now?" I asked Dr. Quack.

"You may, since there seem to be no issues left to deal with," he answered, nodding his head. "but if you have any more problems, come talk to me." I nodded my head, thanked him, and walked out with the Hedgehog family.

"Hello there, Pansy," Mr. Hedgehog greeted me once we were in front of the hospital. "I believe we haven't formally been introduced. I'm Jules Hedgehog, and this is my wife, Bernadette."

"Nice to meet you!" she greeted warmly. "And I gather you've met my son, Sonic."

"Heard of him?" I said, putting my hands on my hips. "With everything of heard about him from everywhere I've been, I should be able to write a life biography on him!"

Mr. and Mrs. Hedgehog smiled, glancing over to their son who was tapping his foot impatiently and staring at the hospital doors, completely oblivious to the conversation we were having.

"Where's Azalea?" he asked, annoyed. He looked over to the entrance, and we saw the blue chinchilla walking out of the sliding glass doors.

"Sorry that took so long," she apologized. "It's just heartbreaking to see Bluebell in that coma of hers."

_At least you HAVE a friend you can trust_, I thought to myself. I snapped out of my dark thoughts, shaking my head slightly. What was with me? I was never this moody…

My thoughts were loudly shaken as I saw a familiar green hedgehog zooming down the nearby streets, with the Freedom Fighters chasing him down. He looked REALLY ticked off as he aimed towards the five of us. I felt a flare go off in my mind, as Azalea and I immediately transformed into our battle attire, weapons at the ready.

"I owe you, Blue Boy, and Coral Brain here a nice ol' pounding!" Scourge threatened me. My anger at him took control as I ran forward and whacked him in the stomach with my diamond staff. He hurdled into a nearby tree, scaring away some residents. It felt just as good the second time to slam the hornet into a tree.

"Scourge, I suggest you go crawl back to Moebius and hide in the pit you came from," I told him, cracking my knuckles. "Besides, I just got my injuries healed and you as well, so I think that you should back off and run away like the coward you are."

"I should go running off?" he snarled. "Just like YOU?" My muscles froze up. The Freedom Fighters had finally caught up to Scourge and were staring at me, as did the gathering crowd. "I know EVERYTHING there is to know about you, babe. I know how you've traveled the majority of the planet, trying to cover up your past and your secrets. You've given your all into attempting to help fight for the liberty and freedom of this puny planet. But for what? I bet that you don't even care about Mobius, or the war, or its people. I bet that all you want is to run away from-"

"ENOUGH!" I exclaimed, hitting him with my fist as hard as I could in the mouth. Considering my overall strength and robotic muscles, it was no wonder that he snapped the tree he was against like a twig and went flying out of the shield protecting New Mobotropolis. I had no idea where he went, as long as it was far away from here. The crowd of shocked Mobians dispersed, leaving me with Sonic's parents and the Freedom Fighters.

"What did he mean by secrets?" Azalea asked me, putting a hand on my shoulder, reverting back into her regular form. The touch of her glove sent a large electrical wave down my shoulder and throughout the rest of my body. I whipped around to see her staring at me eyes wide.

"Hey, did you just feel-?"

She turned pale. "Yeah."

Then things took the oddest turn. A bright blue and purple streak shot down from the sky and landed right in front of us. The two lights shot into our hearts and, carrying Azalea and I, soared up into the sky at an incredible velocity, and we vanished into thin air.

* * *

**What? Blue and purple lights? Pansy and Azalea kidnapped? And what do the others think of Pansy's secrets? All these questions, plus many more, will be answered in the next chapter of _The Elemental Demigoddesses_! Until then, stay cool! :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey everyone! I'm here with the next chapter!**

**Look, I know that this isn't when I usually post, but I have this math test on Friday that I NEED to study for, so I have to post this now so I have a chapter for the week. And next week, I have something else going on, so I'll be posting on Saturday. After that, I'll go back to my usual Friday posts. Sorry! **

** Sonic and Freedom Fighters will be appearing close to the end of the chapter, for those who want to know. But enough of me blabbing; on with the show!**

* * *

**Chapter 7**

**The Goddesses of B.L.O.W.R.A.G.S. Invite Us for Tea**

**Azalea's P.O.V.**

"What the heck are these frilly dresses?"

I totally agreed with Pansy; the ball gowns we were dressed in were so large and frilly, it was ridiculous. My dress was made of blue silk, with a pair of sapphire slippers and white gloves to boot. Pansy's purple, lace dress was sewn with large purple bows and bright sequins, making her a very purple disco ball. Like it hadn't been enough that we had been transported by suspicious orbs of light, but now we were standing in the middle of a vast, white room, wearing WAY too fancy gowns and clueless facial expressions.

_If Bluebell were here, she would've taken out her camera and taken a snapshot of our faces, laughing hysterically,_ I thought to myself. I sighed, thinking about poor Bluebell all bandaged up in her coma, while Pansy was gawking around the room, which is empty except for us…

…and a surprise.

"Greetings, Cordelia and Evelyn."

The two of us whirled around, looking at the place from where the voice echoed. We didn't see anything, except for the towering white walls and pillars above our heads. Nothing. Then a large flash of light filled the room, blinding us temporarily. After the light subsided, we rubbed our eyes and stared at the women before us.

Both of them sat upon two thrones, meeting our shell-shocked gaze. One lady was the one who had spoken to me in the portal, the one who looked exactly like me when I was human. The other lady though, was very unfamiliar. She was a beautiful, youthful lady, close to her late-20's at the oldest. Her velvet-purple hair was cut short and straight, with bangs held back by a diamond headband. The dark purple dress she wore was majestic and long, the jagged hems literally hovering above her high-heeled feet. Her eyes were swirling like a dust-devil, bright as lavender yet dark as a stormy sky. Her red lips were curled into a warm smile, as were my "mother's."

"My darlings," she welcomed, grinning to show perfect teeth. "it is an honor to see you once more." I gave Pansy a sideways glance, seeing her fists tightly clenched and vibrating.

"You again," she growled, staring daggers at the purple lady. The lady's happy expression faded, replacing with worry.

"What is it, Evelyn? Wouldn't you be happy to see your mother?"

"Don't you dare call me Evelyn. And you are not my mother." Pansy whirled around and, as best as she could in her poofy dress, tromped toward one of the walls. Instantly, a passageway opened and she traveled right on through, the wall closing behind her. Before I could follow, a force pushed against me.

"Give her time, Cordelia," my "mother" soothed me.

"Why are you calling us those names, lady?" I asked, staring at her.

"Those are your birth names, dear," she explained. "Your fathers renamed you so you could better camouflage with your surroundings. But for now, we have some favors we would like for you to perform." She snapped her fingers and a cushioned chair lifted me off my uneasily stable, high-heeled feet and moved me forward. A mahogany coffee table appeared out of nowhere and filled its surface with green tea and raspberry-filled cookies. My eyes widened at the site of the food, which looked scrumptious, and I looked up at the two women.

"You didn't poison these, did you?"

"Why would I poison my daughter?"

_With everything that has been going on, I wouldn't be surprised if you did,_ I thought before picking up a mug of green tea. "So, what do you need?"

"There are several favors we'd like you to do," my "mom" began. "First off, we should probably explain who we are." She gestured to herself and the purple lady. "I have already introduced myself, but this purple lady here is Laurette Geolia, the Goddess of Earth and Courage." Olivia bowed forward, smiling at me.

"You're Pansy's mom?"

She nodded. "Yes, I am. It is an honor to be your acquaintance." She sat back onto her throne and continued, "It seems as if Evelyn is having difficulty adjusting to seeing me again. She should be fine, standing on the balcony for now."

_This place has a balcony? What does it overlook, clouds?_ I thought.

"No it does not look over only the condensation in the air," Laurette announced. My eyes widened in surprise.

"How did you-?"

"We are also telekinetic."

"Um, OK."

"Anyways, there are six others of us."

"Six more goddesses?"

"Yes. You do not know who they are right now, but once you find the six others, you shall learn about the rest of us. Each of them control an element as well, in addition to other types of training and extreme abilities. Your current priorities are (A), to find the rest of the team and form the whole Elemental Demigoddesses and (B) fight against two threats."

My eyebrows raised. "Two? I thought it was only Robotnik."

"No, we face a much greater threat than just Robotnik. When talking about this enemy, we're discussing planets and galaxies at risk of being completely terminated."

"That definitely sounds like trouble, but what do you want me and the Elemental Demigoddesses to do about it?"

"Cordelia, remember your childhood."

_My childhood? What does that have to do with-?_

Then it hit me. The book. The reason I was in this whole mess was because of a book. And it held stories of a "group of powerful warriors with the enhanced and magical ability to control the elements…"

"… the heroines in the book are… us?"

Mom nodded her head. I inhaled sharply, connecting the dots. This all made sense; at the same time, it was completely ridiculous. I was the leader of a group of female demigods who controlled the elements and was destined to fight an evil hoard of demons who hailed to a sinister and twisted queen to save multiple worlds. And just like in the books, the demons had tracked me down and tried to murder me. I fought back and won. My mother was and is a goddess. The fates of entire worlds rested upon the shoulders of me and seven other, teenage, anthropomorphic Mobians. The book corresponded with exactly what was going on now.

On the other hand, my logical side, this was INSANE. I mean, demigods? Evil demons? Queen of an army that wants to destroy the entire universe just for the fun of it? If I was told any of this back on Earth, I would think that the person who would have informed me of this might've been off their meds. And if this was a real deal, then how would find the others? How would I fight? Who could I trust and not trust?

My head was spinning, so I decided to calm down a bit and slurp some of the tea. The warm drink soothed my nerves, and once I calmed down, I asked, "If this is happening right now, then how am I going to find the others?"

Mom smiled. "I'm very glad you asked that." She and Laurette stepped up from their thrones and lifted their hands into the air, like they were performing some sort of spiritual ritual or something. A small _poof!_ sounded from both of their palms, and they brushed their hands down through the air, exposing a small leather briefcase that was the size of my thigh in length.

"This case holds separate diadems and tiaras for each of you," Mom explained. "Not only are they decorative, but they help track enemies and your friends." I clicked open the case, and inside were eight small boxes, each a different color with a varying symbol. There was a pink box with a bronze swirl, a red box with a platinum fire-shape, an orange box with a titanium sun, a yellow box with a white lightning bolt, a green box with a silver leaf, a white box with a gold ice cube, a purple box with a diamond mountain attached, and a blue box with an obsidian teardrop. I opened the cardboard, blue box carefully and saw a beautiful obsidian tiara dotted with bits of sapphire. I pulled it out of its case, and placed it onto my head. A perfect fit.

"Thanks," I thanked them, putting away the tiara and box.

"Hopefully, it should make locating the others a bit easier, since it heats up whenever you're in a radius of at least 40 miles."

"Sweet." They sat back down as I reshut the suitcase. "So is there anything else that you need to inform me about?"

"Yes, actually. If you have any questions, you should use the book as a reference guide. It should be able to answer anything you need. I've deactivated its transporting motive, so it shouldn't send you off to anywhere random or unexpected."

"You put the book on my doorstep?"

She nodded. "And I should also tell you about the effects of the transportation, shouldn't I?"

"What effects?"

"Well, the portal can be a bit unsteady, altering the thing being sent through it. And the effects it took upon you were your age and natural abilities. In age, you are now 15 years old, and your intelligence, strength, stamina, speed, and elemental abilities were all increased."

"OK, the age and stat changes I can handle, but what did you mean by the portal being 'unstable?'"

"You could've easily been killed or sucked into the wrong portal, which was the reason why I was there, to make sure you got at your destination safely."

"Oh, well that's… comforting."

"Mmm. Anyways, Laurette, could you go and retrieve Pansy? I will finish up the conversation with Azalea."

"Of course, Raina," Laurette said, and she disappeared into her glowing purple ball of light, and retreated out the doorway that Pansy left from.

"Now, one more thing before I send you back," Mom continued. "This is about Pansy."

"Yeah, I've been curious about that. What about it?"

"Pansy has been through a lot, with the whole war thing. So since we want Pansy to have her privacy about past events, we're going to wipe the memory from the citizens who witnessed and heard about the event."

"You mean, we're wiping out only that event, right?"

"Correct. Everything else will be unfazed."

"Sure, I'm fine with it. I can understand."

"Good. And I gather that you probably want me to remove your dress, right?"

I looked down at the dress and grimaced. "Please. I feel like a walking marshmallow."

Mom snapped her fingers and the dress popped off, and I was standing in the clothes that Sally had given me to wear temporarily. At that moment, Pansy and Olivia walked into the room, where I saw Pansy dressed in a tattered purple t-shirt, khaki slacks, sneakers, and her baseball cap.

"Shall we go?" I asked Pansy.

"Let's," she said, giving a quick glare to her mother who stood behind her. In a flash, we disappeared from the room, heading back home.

* * *

"So is that where you guys went to?" Sally asked.

We were back on Mobius, residing in the Hedgehog residence. After coming back to Mobius and reexplaining everything that our moms told us to the Freedom Fighters and Sonic's parents, they were staring at us, very confused and unsure of the story spilling from our mouths.

"This is way too weird," Sonic announced, rubbing his head. "I think I'm getting brain trauma from this confusing story." I smirked, knowing that we could leave it to Sonic to state out the complete obvious.

"I agree, and why do I feel like there is this huge memory block in my brain? It's like I'm forgetting something," Tails commented. Pansy and I met each other's eyes and smiled.

"Nope, you're not forgetting anything at all," Pansy reassured them, and I could see her trying to hide a laugh.

"We'll take your word for it, then," Sally said, brushing stray red bangs from her eyes. "Now then, we should probably show you around, right? Show you the city and maybe give you some more explanations."

The others nodded in agreement.

"Well, then what are we standing here for?" Pansy exclaimed. "Let's get going!"

* * *

**OK, chapter 7 is done! Again, sorry for the weird schedule. See you!**


	8. Chapter 8

**OH. MY. GOD. SHE'S BACK FROM THE DEAD!**

**Hi everyone! I'm so, so, so sorry about not updating or saying anything for the past couple of weeks. I feel SOOO bad! As a reward for everyone's patience, you will not only this week's chapter, but another chapter this Sunday! I swear to you, I will type those two chapters up as fast as possible, and I won't stop until my fingers start bleeding! ;) Whoever invented grounding and banning from electronics is a pile of bleaugh...**

**Anyways, here is the next chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter 8**

**New Mobotropolis and Finding #3**

**Pansy's P.O.V.**

"What's with all the smoke?"

Azalea had noticed pillars of smoke out in the distance. After leaving the Hedgehog household, the Freedom Fighters had decided to give the two of us a tour of the city, since we were so unfamiliar with the area. And so, they insisted on starting on the perimeter of the city, to show us something important. I knew what it was they were showing us, even though it wasn't going to be a pretty sight. Azalea probably had no idea what was in store, but she was about to find out.

The group of us became quiet and the air seemed to thicken with sadness. Azalea, still curious and confused, seemed to notice the mood change and gulped.

"I'm sorry, bad topic?"

Sally sighed and crossed her arms. "No, it's alright. But the smoke is coming from…" She trailed off and swallowed, tears in her eyes.

"The Knothole Ruins," Sonic finished, his face hardening. He kicked a nearby stone and let it roll through the grassy plains.

"Knothole?"

"It was a refuge to the people who managed to escape the grasp of Robotnik when he first took over several years ago," Tails explained, flicking his two tails. "Well, the Mobians, anyways. And it was our home for sometime. Or, at least, until…"

"Robotnik found the place and burnt it into the ground," I continued. "For a short time, everyone was captured and only a few stray stragglers were left in the ruins." I looked over at Sonic, Tails, and Amy. "While they did achieve victory, eventually, there was a cost; the ruin of their home, the capturing of friends, and the taste of defeat."

"Oh my gods," Azalea murmured, her eyes tearing up. "That's terrible! And to think, back home, I complained about extra homework." She took off her tiara (which she insisted on bringing in case we needed it) and stared into the front-most sapphire. I heard her mutter, "Home…" before she looked back up at the smoky distance.

Amy sniffed, wiping the tears away from her eyes. "Yeah, the whole thing was really heart-breaking. Seeing my home destroyed, Sonic beaten to a pulp, everything." Azalea's eyebrows rose at the Sonic comment, but she had decided to keep quiet.

"Stupid, cruddy armor," Sonic muttered, crossing his arms.

"But the war has granted us something," Sally commented, surveying all seven of us. "If the whole war didn't exist, then none of us would've met."

"Well, I'm not too sure about that," I commented.

"Whaddya mean, sugar?"

"What I mean is that, remember that comment I told you guys about that our moms said? That there was a greater evil out there, right?"

That statement, though, was true. What were the Shade Demons doing on Mobius? Were they a part of a bigger plan? And who was that mysterious queen?

"Hopefully, we'll manage to find some answers," Azalea said, putting her tiara back on her head. "but for now, let's focus on the present."

"Right, so here's the plan," Sally began, turning to us. "Bunnie, Antoine, and Amy will head back to base and will check in with us if there's some sort of mysterious activity. Sonic, Tails, and I will come with you two on the tour. Nicole should be OK with showing you around."

"Er, who's Nicole?" Azalea asked.

"You'll see," Amy teased, winking as she headed to Freedom HQ with Bunnie and Antoine. I smirked as I saw Azalea's face become pale and her expression horrified. Granted, I had no idea who Nicole was either, but her face was still funny.

The five of us walked up to the gate, and-

"Identification required beyond this point, please."

"AH!"

A random lynx formed (and by formed, literally, she formed her body in front of us) at the entrance we were at, and was looking at Azalea who had jumped back several paces. The brown and black lynx in a purple dress and black and beaded hair with green eyes curiously studied Azalea and I (Azalea had nervously walked back up to us).

"Sorry, but um, what the heck?"

"I am Nicole, A.I. and electrical system that runs throughout New Mobotropolis, powering everything within the city," the lynx introduced herself. "Sorry to make you jump."

"Nicole, these are our new friends, Azalea the Chinchilla and Pansy the Fox," Sally introduced. "Sorry they're a bit jumpy. They're new around here."

"Yeah, sorry. I didn't mean to offend you by jumping like that."

"Please, it is alright. You were just surprised, is all."

Azalea blushed with nervousness, chuckling nervously. "Thanks for being so understanding."

"Nic, since they're new around here, do you think you could give them a tour of the city?" Sonic asked.

"Sure! I'm always happy to help!" she agreed, smiling cheerfully. "Come in! There isn't a moment to waste!"

The five of us walked in as she began to explain to Azalea and I about the nanites (smaller holographic machines that ran throughout the city, powering everything except the people). We leisurely strolled around the city, looking at the nice, surrounding plants, trees, homely-looking huts, and large white-walled buildings with blue windows. Various, chilling Mobians played and ate at side cafes, saying hi to Sonic, Sally, Nicole, and Tails, who all responded greetings and warm smiles. Considering my history, things were WAY too cheerful for comfort. But Azalea was enjoying it at least.

After looking at the majority of the city, it had come upon three o' clock. The five of us were standing in front of the public school (specifically, the high school section), listening to Nicole explain about the school.

"Within the school, we have quite a bit of prodigies in various regions, such as music, sports, fighting, and academics," she explained. "Here, let me show you an example…"

A small screen popped up from her hands, showing a group picture of some kids our age. A green mongoose with pixie-cut lime-colored hair, a green tank top, a white, long skirt, and green and black sneakers was making a peace sign into the camera, her arms around the shoulders of a navy-blue bat in red sneakers, black jeans, and a loose tee with tussled black hair and a red hedgehog with chaotic quills wearing white gloves and some green sneakers.

"These three are some of the students that go the school," Nicole informed us. She pointed to the red hedgehog. "This is Maroon. He's a very talented musician." She pointed to the bat. "That's Wendell. He's highest in the athlete class. Schoolwide." She gestured to the green mongoose. "Finally, this is Ivy. She's easily one of- if not the- most intelligent people I've ever known. Her IQ scores are off the charts." She took away the photo and pulled up a chart of her test scores. She showed it to us and our jaws dropped to our knees.

"She's gotten perfect scores in all the classes and tests she's ever taken?!" I exclaimed.

"How?" Tails asked. "I've taken some of those quizzes, and they can be crazy hard!"

"Yeah, and this is comin' from Tails!" Sonic said. "Can you imagine me taking one of those quiz-"

BRRING!

A loud bell sounded, and the front school doors burst open, releasing a flood of teens into the city. Everyone carried backpacks and book bags and split up into different directions. Lots of kids milled around, but some darted off to other destinations.

"I gather that three is the time when they get released!" Azalea shouted over the loudness.

"No, really?" I asked sarcastically. "Never woulda guessed that!"

"LOOK OUT!"

I turned around a little too late as I slammed into a student from the school, head-first. We both fell to the ground, groaning in pain. I held my head as I heard the others dash over.

"Are you alright?!" Tails questioned me, alarmed.

"Mmmph," I grumbled. "Never better."

I removed my hand and saw who I had crashed into. It was Wendell, one of the kids in the picture. He held his checkered blue-and-red backpack in one hand, his head in the other.

"Ow, what the heck, man?" he groaned.

"Sorry," I apologized, helping him to his feet.

"No prob," he muttered, rubbing his temple. He looked at me and said, "Hey, are you from around here? I don't remember ever seeing you."

I shook my head. "No, I'm from… um…"

_Shoot! Find a back-story, find a back-story…_ I thought to myself.

"She's from Furville, visiting me," Azalea covered me, winking at me. I nodded my gratitude to her and she smiled.

"Alright. Again, sorry. Name's Wendell."

"Hey, Wendell! C'mon, we gotta go!"

A familiar red hedgehog jogged up to him and ruffled his hair. Wendell rolled his eyes and turned to him.

"Maroon, we have plenty of time."

"Yeah, but I wanna get there early before all the snacks are gone!"

"Dude, Mr. D. always saves you something. Besides, band doesn't start for another half-hour."

Maroon crossed his arms and noticed us. "Whoa. Wendell, you made friends with the Freedom Fighters and some girls? I thought you were anti-social."

Wendell scowled and slapped Maroon on the head. Maroon grinned and bowed cheesily.

"Hey there. Nice to meet you. I'm Maroon, and this is Wendell. And, well, bye!" He spun on his heels and ran back toward the school building.

"Mar, wait! Uggh…" He turned back to us and apologized, "Sorry. Maroon can be a bit… jumpy. I hope he didn't offend you guys."

"Why would he offend us?" Nicole asked. Wendell grinned.

"Hey Nicole! Nice to see you again!"

"You too," she smiled.

"Wendell!"

Ivy from the photo ran up to Wendell and said, "Wen, c'mon! We need to get to study hall! I don't feel like I studied enough for the test!"

"You always say that," he told her, smiling. "Ivy, these are the Freedom Fighters and a couple of new people."

"Hello, charmed to meet you," she said, adjusting the huge book in her hand. "And Wendell, shouldn't we get going?"

"Fine." He smiled and waved to us as they walked off. "Nice to meet you!"

I turned to Azalea, who was holding her head in what looked like pain. The others noticed too, and their smiles faded.

"Azalea, are you alright?" Nicole asked, holding her shoulder to steady her.

"Y-yes," she responded. "Sorry, but the crown-" She pulled it off her head as we saw smoke rise from the sapphire. "It's burning!"

An idea popped into my head. "Wait!"

The others looked at me.

"Didn't our parents say that whenever the sapphire burns, a demigoddess is nearby?"

Azalea's eyes widened as she looked up at Ivy and Wendell walking away, and the crown began to cool.

"You mean, the genius mongoose, Ivy-"

I nodded. "We may not know who she comes from, or what power she possesses, but we've found our first ally."

* * *

**Oh my gosh! We've found our third demigoddess! Who is the mysterious Ivy, and how will they recruit her? Find out in the next chapter!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello, everyone!**

**Wow, I can hardly believe we're almost to Chapter 10. Thanks for your continued support, you all made this possible. 3 There will be some mild language close to the end of this chapter, so just a little bit of caution. **

**Here we go!**

* * *

**Chapter 9**

**Plans to Reach Number 3**

**Pansy's P.O.V.**

I couldn't believe it. We had already found our third ally.

After finding out the news, we had quickly finished up the tour (and by quickly, I mean Sonic speed-explained everything else as we walked out the city gates) and headed back to Freedom HQ to tell the others the surprising news.

When we arrived back at base, we walked into the nice and happy living room, where Amy was stirring a mug of something. She didn't notice us walk in or greet her, she was so concentrated on her drink. Exasperated, I walked up to her from behind and tapped on her shoulder.

"Yo, Amy!"

"What?!" she exclaimed, jumping when I caught her attention. She exhaled in relief and said, "Oh, sorry. I was just making myself some hot chocolate. When did you guys come in?"

I resisted the urge to face-palm myself as I sighed and felt an anime-style sweat-drop appear on my head. "Never mind."

"The others are upstairs looking in on the surveillance tapes if you need them," she informed us, taking some marshmallows from a nearby bag and plopping them into her drink.

_Who drinks hot chocolate in the summer?_ I thought to myself, shrugging. "Actually, we're gonna need everyone for an important announcement."

"OK, I'll be up in a minute," she told us, and we went through a nearby door and up a flight of stone steps into a metal room, filled with lab equipment, a huge screen, and a ladder in the center of the room. We found Bunnie and Antoine sitting on a couple of swivel chairs, talking to the screen monitor and observing various videos.

"Oh, hey ya'll!" Bunnie greeted us, waving her hand forward invitingly. "C'mon in!"

"Hi guys," Sally smiled. "Anything to report?"

"_Non, _princess. There iz nothing to be reported," Antoine answered in his broken English.

"It's just 'to report', 'Twan," Sonic corrected him. "But we have some interesting news."

The couple shifted their attention toward us, as we took turns explaining how we had found the third member of our group and her friends.

"Ah ya sure? Was anybody else nearby?"

"No, she was definitely the girl," Azalea answered, pulling off her tiara. "Remember how the tiara can sense demigoddesses nearby? Well, this thing was heating like crazy, so we knew that it definitely was her."

"Do you have information about her, other than what she lookz like?"

"Well, we do know that the girl has insanely high IQ levels, so maybe she could be the brains of our group."

"Anythin' else?"

We shook our heads.

"Hey, I have an idea!"

Amy had walked into the room and had a look of a solution on her face.

"Well, this girl goes to New Mobotropolis High, right?" We nodded. "So, maybe we could camouflage one of you guys and have her kind of befriend her and find out more info on her."

We all looked at each other, thinking our own thoughts. I honestly thought that the idea was genius, but that we had a teensy problem:

Which one of us was going to blend in?

"I'll do it," Azalea volunteered, smiling nervously. We all looked at her, a little shocked. She frowned and continued, "I think I should go because a) I've experienced school before and b) I'm probably the only person here who's had at least a day of certified education. I'm correct, right?" The others nodded, including me. "Plus, I was a fairly good student back home, so that hopefully means I won't struggle in the work they give us. And I'll be sure to go to the library to study up on work that I might've missed."

The others nodded in agreement, since her plan did sound solid to me. Maybe she was more than just the curious kid I knew now.

Sally smiled. "Ok, that settles that." She turned to the monitor screen and asked, "Nicole, could you get a new side structure to work, please?"

"Absolutely."

"Nicole's in your computer as well?"

Sally nodded. "Like I said, Nicole runs through everything that we have around here. And I gather you guys will want a place, right? So Nicole's building a small side house for you two, and the future members of your group."

"Sweet. Is there anything we can do to-"

"Done!"

Nicole's head was smiling at us from the screen, after only 10 seconds of departure.

Azalea gawked. "Wait a tic. You finished building the ENTIRE thing in under 30 seconds?"

Nicole nodded convincingly. "Yes, go see for yourself."

The two of us climbed up the room's ladder onto the roof of the headquarters, and stared down in amazement at the new-looking hut that sat proudly beside the HQ. The hut's walls were painted a bright brown, with a yellow roof, much like the designs of the houses we had seen in the city. We walked up to the walls and looked around the building. We noticed, in addition that the house was camouflaged so its exterior was made of near-indestructible nanites, that the house was covered on its outer edges by piles of dirt. In two of those piles, we saw a small patch of blue azaleas and purple pansies growing side by side. But what was more impressive what was inside.

"Whoa!" we both exclaimed as we walked into the house. The house was much larger than we expected. Like, WAY bigger. The six-foot high walls had sprouted into 10-feet high walls, with 13 separate doors and in the vast living room, a few cream-white couches, lamps, air vents, and a big monitor, which held Nicole's cheerful face on it, looking at us.

"Nicole, this is amazing!" Azalea exclaimed. Nicole giggled.

"Thank you for the compliment. I did try to give you as much room as possible." She pointed to the doors closest to us, and said, "Each of those doors provides you your own sleeping quarters, with a bed, a pot of your favorite flowers, and a decorative theme that matches your personality."

She gestured to the other rooms. "One room is a planning/battle strategy room, two are restrooms, one's an extra guest room, and the last one is a training room, where you can practice using your powers and maybe some weapons."

"Nic, this is awesome; thanks so much!" I thanked her, admiring the room.

"You're welcome."

"Hey, Nicole?"

"Yes?"

"Can you tell the others that I'm turning in for the day?"

Azalea looked at me like I was ridiculous. "But it's only 5 o'clock!"

"Trust me, with everything that just happened, and the fact that I've been on the run since I was eight, I'm gonna need some time to crash."

"Fine," Azalea said. "But I'm going back to see if there's anything else that I need to know about the area."

"Alright," I yawned. "Bye."

"Bye."

Once Azalea left, Nicole directed me to my room (the second, left-most door), and I headed inside.

"See you tomorrow, Nicole."

"Good night, Pansy. Sleep well."

_Definitely, _I thought to myself, looking around my room. It was something to look at, a big improvement from the alleyways and junkyards I had slept in. I walked over to the bed and brushed my hand against the soft purple blanket that lay on top of the mattress. The rest of the room, other than the most appealing thing to me, the bed, fit me well. The walls were made of brown mortar walls, and the floor made of fuzzy, tan carpet. Two more wooden doors and a huge, curtained window lined the walls, and a lamp was placed beside the wooden book stand. A potted plant of pansies sat in the corner of the room, and a mirror hung right above one of the doors. When I opened the mirrored door, I found myself in a partially-filled walk-in closet, with similar designs to the bigger room, and lots of my favorite styles of clothing.

"I could get used to this," I muttered to myself and closed the closet door. I strode up to the bed and kicked off my sneakers, then flopped onto the bed and fell asleep before my head hit the pillow.

* * *

_Heavy clunking sounds slammed against the pavement as I ran into the corridor. Blocked by a huge steel wall. I backed toward the wall as the SWAT-bots marched toward me, Robotnik behind them in a giant mechanical machine._

"_Nowhere to run, is there, Miss Pansy?" he snickered, grinning maliciously. He clicked a button and a machine gun opened up from one of the sides of his grey armor, and aimed it at me. _

_"Damn..." I swore under my breath, feeling the sweat on my palms thicken._

"_Pansy!"_

_All of us whipped our heads upward to see a faceless figure leap down from one of the surrounding buildings._

"_Bobby, get outta here! Before they kill you, too!"_

"_Sorry, Pan, that isn't how I roll."_

_BLAM! The figure crumpled to the floor._

"_BOBBY!"_

_I ran over to his body, which was partially Roboticized, and limp as a dead fish. Blood coated my hands as I held him in my arms._

_"You demon! What have you done?!" I screamed at him, tears flooding down my face. My ears folded back against my head and shivers shook throughout my spine. "Why?!"_

_The scene disappeared in swirl of white light and changed into a black throne-room. An unknown, cloaked figure sat on a black throne, and stared at a picture she held in her hands. The picture showed eight women, two of which I recognized as our moms, but the others were mysterious._

_"Just wait, fools. You will pay for everything you have done." Her voice was sickly and twisted, melting with a snake's hissing. She removed a long, thick, black-bladed dagger from her cloak, placed the picture on her throne right-arm rest, and stabbed into the picture. "You will pay for your sins and I'll personally send you, your filthy, mixed-blood children, and their friends straight to hell."_

_The image faded away and there was nothing but blackness._

* * *

**Oooh, mysterious! Looks like Pansy's in some deep trouble, but what do these dreams mean? Let's hope everything will be alright for the twosome and Freedom Fighters. But for now, this is soniccore27 signing off. May the force be with you!**


	10. Chapter 10

**What is up?!**

**OK, here's your special chapter for me being gone for so long! Also, my school district has the week off, so I am super psyched for the break! :D (Even though I probably will be spending half the time working on two school projects my teachers assigned the class, but it is still a break all the same!) Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter 10**

**Reached**

**Azalea's P.O.V.**

I couldn't believe it. It was too much to process.

After a knowledge-filled day, making companions with Ivy and her crew, plus fighting a huge killer robot along the Freedom Fighters outside the city, and finding a creepy doll was making my head spin. And I had been through quite a few head-spin-worthy moments over the past week.

But for now, let's calmly take a step back to see what had just happened…

* * *

Waking up to Pansy screaming her head off wasn't a very good way to start off the day.

I was having such a peaceful dream, too. I was back on Earth, riding on my bike, swimming, and chatting with Bluebell at the mall. That is, until Pansy brought me back to reality in one of the worst ways possible.

Swiftly, I pulled myself out of my warm blue bed, and ran to out the door as fast as my sleepy legs would allow. I came upon Pansy's door and slammed it open, to see Pansy sitting up on her bed, her hands covering her mouth and eyes bulging.

"Oh my gods, Pan!" I exclaimed, rushing over to her. She was shaking visibly and taking shallow breaths as she looked down at her hands. I sat beside the bed and watched her slowly regain her calm and cool nature.

"Is everything OK?!" I heard Nicole pop beside her bed, and I saw her staring at Pan, alert and a little scared.

Pansy uneasily pulled herself from under the covers, and sat on the bed's edge. I noticed her fully dressed clothes compared to my linen PJs, but I was more focused upon her rather than her clothes.

"It-it's fine," she swallowed, her eyes blinking rapidly as she tilted her head downward. For a flash, just a moment, I saw Pansy lose her cool, teen cover and saw it replaced with a scared little fox. Whatever had just happened was really bad.

"Pansy, what on Earth just happened?"

After a few more deep breaths, she began to explain everything she had just seen in her visions/dreams. Nicole and I listened intently, soaking in every detail she was speaking. Once she had finished, we were frozen in shock.

Nervously, I had retied my braid during the story and was fiddling with the end of my hair. "Do you know what any of this means? Because, to be honest, I don't have a clue."

"No, I don't," Pansy answered sorrowfully, shaking her head.

"And this Bobby… who is he?" She looked up at me, and sighed.

"You don't wanna know."

I swallowed, keeping myself from asking anymore questions as we were silent, bathing in our own thoughts.

"No one woke up after I screamed, right?" Pansy asked, breaking the tense silence.

"Wanna bet?"

Pan and I turned our heads to see Sonic leaning against the door frame, arms crossed and a small smile on his face. Nicole brushed a lock from her face and apologized, "He was standing right here the entire time, but I didn't want to say anything to frighten you."

"No one else noticed, 'cept me," Sonic added, walking into the room. " 'Hope I didn't scare you."

"Actually, I'm more scared about the nightmare rather than you popping up," Pansy said, placing her baseball cap, which was sitting on her bedside desk, back on her head. "Which I'm guessing you heard me explain."

"Correct," he answered. "All that definitely sounded like trouble. Sucks that your friend died, too."

Pansy's eyes began to tear up. "Yeah, well, it wasn't exactly much fun watching that happen in real life." After a brief pause, her tears faded and she hopped up to her feet, giving us a weak smile. "But that's all in the past. For now, shouldn't Azalea start heading out to the library?"

We all gave her a blank stare. She had a very quick mood change, so we were a little taken-aback. We looked at the clock, which said 7:00. I piped up, "Well, can we have breakfast first?"

Nicole nodded. "Sure. Let me wake the others." She disappeared, leaving Sonic, Pansy, and I in an awkward silence.

"Wait, what did you mean earlier when you said that it sucked watching Bobby died in real life?"

Pansy tensed when Sonic asked her that question.

"Well, that actually happened. A couple years back, though, when I was eleven. He was secretly working for Robotnik when we were friends, and realized his mistakes all too late." My eyes widened as I felt tears start to rise to my eyes, and Sonic grimaced.

"I'm sorry. Didn't mean to bring up anything personal."

"No, it's fine. You didn't know." She stood up and asked us to leave the room so she could change into fresh clothes, and so we left without another word.

I shook my head once we were heading toward Freedom HQ. "Poor Pan, it must be so hard on her."

"The war was never easy on any of us. But it seems like Pan has had it extra rough."

I nodded and we opened up the door to Freedom HQ. The smell of fresh, buttermilk pancakes hit us full force. My senses came alive as we saw the others feasting on the delectable cakes.

"Hey guys!" I greeted them. Everyone looked up from their eating and conversations, gestured their greetings, and continued. Sonic and I took our seats and began to eat. The pancakes were really delicious, along with the blueberries and water they came with. It had been so busy over the past couple days, that I had actually forgotten to eat. So you can imagine how hungry I was.

After wolfing down my sixth pancake and chatting with Sally about specific things to possibly look up at the library to do research on, Pansy silently walked into the room and began to eat with us. When the others greeted her, she nodded and sat down without saying another word. I noticed how she was silent throughout the entire meal. Although she did look more civilized after showering and wearing a loose brown tee with faded jeans and her sneakers and jewelry, her face was still solemn as she pushed around the blueberries on her plate.

"Ah! It's past 8! I should get moving!" I exclaimed, looking at a nearby clock in the room.

"Go ahead, we'll get your dishes," Sally said. I smiled my thanks to her and ran out the door, into our hut and my room, quickly showering and dressing into a blue hoodie and jean shorts with sneakers (I decided to leave the tiara in its case to not look suspicious). I walked to New Mobotropolis and headed in the direction of the public library. I observed the scenery with a sweet smile while walking, watching children play with toys so early in the morning. Their parents watched their kids carefully and I greeted them. It reminded me of home, my neighbors' toddlers riding their tricycles and bikes along the streets and sidewalks. I sighed at the memory.

Once I reached the library, I gasped aloud at the beauty of the place. The mahogany walls were tall and clean, with matching book shelves and yellow lamps, decorated with wooden tables and high-tech gadgetry along the walls and desks, like research computers and check-out desks. Even at such an early time, the library was buzzing quietly with Mobian librarians and visitors.

"Excuse me," I whispered to a young, brown sparrow in a pink dress. "Where could I find the books on Mobius history?"

"Over there," the lady responded quietly, pointing a wing to my right.

"Thanks."

I went over to the selection of books and gathered three books that looked interesting, found a cushy lounge chair to sit at, and I began to read. Over the course of six hours, I went through the three books, plus a dozen more. While I was reading my 16th book, a surprise visitor had awakened me from the world of books.

"Hey, you're one of the purple fox's companions, right?"

I looked up from the article on Angel Island and almost jumped out of my seat. It was Ivy, who was wearing a green turtleneck, black leggings, and white sneakers. A pair of glasses was perched on her nose as she stood in front of me.

"Um, yeah," I responded, putting down my book. "You're Ivy, right?"

She nodded. "I am. But who are you? I don't remember ever seeing you around this area before. Are you a visitor from another region of the planet?"

I hadn't prepared for a question like this, so I just stayed silent, trying to think of something to say.

"Ah, you're a shy type. I understand. The war changes everyone, doesn't it?" She readjusted her glasses. "I see you're here to do some research. I honestly come here for a little bit of light reading, and to occasionally expand my horizon with knowledge." She gestured to a stack of books in her gloved hands. I looked at the stack, wanting to ask how she considered the pile light. I refrained, of course, because I had other matters to attend to her.

_How am I going to ask you about your mother?_ I thought. _I mean, she is one of the demigoddesses, but how am I going to break it to her? "Oh, so you must be a demigoddess who's going to help me save the planet! Great, you are. But don't worry; it won't be that difficult."_ _Yeah, she won't think I'm crazy._

"Um, you realize I can hear you, right?"

My eyes widened as she said that to me.

"You're a telepathic?" I whispered, trying my hardest not to explode. She nodded. "And you know you're a demigoddess?" I whispered even quietly. She nodded again.

"I'm the daughter of Serena Bioess, the Goddess of Botany and Intelligence. You _are _one of them, aren't you?"

"Yeah. I'm the team leader, daughter of Raina Rosewater, Goddess of Water and Leadership. And there is also another member we have, Pansy, daughter of the Goddess of Earth and Courage."

Ivy sighed. "Pansy is the purple fox?" I nodded; she had come to that conclusion quickly. "You guys have found me already."

I frowned. "What do you mean by 'already'?"

"Put away your book and come outside. We have a lot to discuss."

* * *

**Alright, Chapter 10, done! Next chapter, we'll learn some stuff from Ivy, since the chapter will be in her point of view. But for now, here's a tease: What's small, orange, resembles a certain character in the story, and is REALLY creepy? You'll find out; on Friday! BWAHAHAHA- *cough-cough* Ahem, anyways, see you on Friday!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Cue the dramatic music, everyone! Because, boy, do I have a show for you!**

**If you read the last chapter, then you saw at the end that the Tails doll is going to make an appearance in the story (For those of you who've never seen any pictures of the Tails doll, it's really creepy!). *dun dun dunn!* Read on... If you dare! ;)**

* * *

Chapter 11

Discovered

Ivy's P.O.V.

Isn't it surprising, how fast occurrences can fly by without us noticing?

How did I not see that Azalea and her friend, Pansy, were the ones? First, when I heard Azalea's thoughts, seen their necklaces, bracelets, and Azalea's tiara, AND sensed their strong, intimidating auras.

Two, the dream I had had last night. The mystical voice that told me I would find allies and the picture showing me, plus shadowy figures, fighting a strange robot.

Well, apparently I can't make very strong connections, even with my high IQ, or I just suck at taking hints.

Anyways, once Azalea put the book in its proper place, we left the library and departed the city to a secret location only known (or at least, what we THOUGHT we only knew) to Maroon, Wendell, and I. We ventured into the Great Forest, and I started to guide her over various traps that we had placed to make sure no one would be able to see and/or notice.

"Um, where exactly are we going?" Azalea asked, hopping over a loose rope-net we had placed on the ground under a pile of twigs, which I pointed out before she almost stepped into it. "And why are there so many traps?"

"In a moment, you'll know everything," I promised, hopping over a pile of leaves that led to a pit.

Once avoiding all the traps, we had approached a thick coat of willow trees, green leaves coating the arms. I gave her a pausing gesture and pushed my hand up to one of the branches.

"Please pardon me, friend. We have a visitor," I spoke to the trees. Azalea gave me a questioning look, then gasped as the leaves began to shift away, opening a small entrance for us. I guided the reluctant Azalea through the bushes into my home.

I brushed out my hand and smiled. "Welcome to the Willow Chao Garden."

Azalea's eyes glittered with surprise as she looked around in amazement. Several pink-winged, blue and yellow, and curious Chao flew up to Azalea and I in greeting, rubbing themselves against us, saying their hellos in Chao language and demanding attention. Laughing, Azalea began petting one of the little Chao, and the guy giggled. The ones that weren't greeting us were playing in the lake that took up the inner area of the circular paradise, and milling around a duo of familiar faces.

"Hey guys!" I called out to them. Maroon waved at me, while Wendell had the inability to, since his arms were being hugged by several Chao.

"Wow, these little guys are amazing! What are they called?" Azalea giggled, her legs being attacked by the cute munchkins.

"Chao. Why, you've never heard of a Chao before?"

"No, because I'm not exactly from… around here."

_Or maybe I'm not from this planet,_ Azalea thought, which I heard.

"Really, where are you from?"

She looked up at me from the Chao, surprised, then giving me a playful glare. "I've gotta learn how to do that."

I grinned cheerfully. "Why, isn't it benefiting to be curious?"

"Yeah, well, you know what they say. Curiosity killed the cat-" She paused, thinking. "-or in this case, the mongoose."

"That was a really bad joke," Maroon commented. He and Wendell were suddenly standing beside me, grinning. In their hands were their backpacks, and still-attention-persistent Chao. But the Chao were starting to move away from us, and were headed to the lake after a Chao called them over.

"Hey Ivy, isn't this one of the girls that we met yesterday?" Wendell asked, attempting to push down his chaotic 'do, which refused to smoothen down.

"Yeah, and she knows my secret."

Their happy faces fell. "She does?" they exclaimed, shocked. Azalea pulled out her jewelry and showed it to the boys. They gave similar cartoon faces at us. "She does!"

"The vision was true, I guess." The guys nodded, while Azalea stared at us.

"What vision?"

I described to her what I had seen and she nodded once I finished.

"That makes sense, well, part of it does. We've met, and so that means-"

"Robotnik will be coming to attack us soon," I finished. "That's why you saw all those traps we set up. We wanted to take precautions, to make sure that the doctor wouldn't make his way here. And if you didn't already happen to notice, we are protective of the Chao here. Very protective."

"We also kinda happen to live here, so we don't want our home destroyed," Wendell added.

"We go to school to further our education, and then live, work, and train here," I continued, "Using fake parent IDs to go to the school. And we've also trained ourselves to be ready both mentally and physically if worst comes to worst." To prove what I was talking about, the guys pulled out their weaponry from their school bags, Maroon holding two, steel, one-barrel pistols in either hands and Wendell grasping twin, titanium tomahawks. Azalea gawked at them, surprised that they were able to keep weapons in their packs without getting caught (Mind-reading can really come in handy sometimes.).

"Don't worry, we never show them at school and Maroon always unloads them before going to class."

"I'd hope so," she stuttered as she nervously watched them stow away their weapons.

"Chao-chao-chao!"

Our conversation was interrupted by a Chao who was tugging on the sleeve of my turtleneck. He was pointing at something the Chao were all gathering around, bustling and shoving each other out of the way to get a look at… well… whatever they were looking at.

The four of us walked over to the Chao and jumped at what we saw. The thing was orange, small, and looked kind of like Tails…

…Except creepier.

"What in the-?!" Maroon exclaimed.

"What is that?" Wendell asked.

Whatever the thing was, it began to radiate a mysterious black glow. It floated into the air, and whizzed out of the garden.

"Hey, wait!" Wendell called, and he, Maroon, and Azalea went after it.

"I'll be there in a minute," I called to them. In the twenty seconds I had to react, I calmed down the Chao and dashed to one of the nearby bushes. I dug through the branches, finding and pulling out a carefully hidden silver necklace with a green leaf charm and a matching bracelet. I put on the jewelry and darted after them, closing the gateway and jumping over the planted traps.

* * *

**Pansy's P.O.V.**

After a sucky start in the morning, I wasn't thinking about anything else except the dream, the punching bag I had been using in the training room earlier, and the Freedom Fighters who were planning a mission in the other room. The mission would involve them, Azalea, and I, maybe Ivy if Azalea convinced her to join our ranks.

So you can imagine how a scream coming from Freedom HQ made the fizzy water I was drinking suddenly seem less interesting.

I placed down the cup, changed into my battle clothes, and jumped out the door, my eyes widening at what I saw.

A levitating Tails doll?

Amy was standing in the front entrance, frozen in shock after screaming. As fast as possible, I snapped out of trance, lifted my bo-staff, and slammed it against the doll as hard as I could. My staff, to my astonishment, phased harmlessly through the doll and I stumbled to regain my balance. Amy was calling the others in a high-pitched voice, and I noticed that the doll had been emitting a strange, deep-black glow. Its eyes stared at me, intimidating me slightly.

"What the-? What is that?!" Sonic exclaimed as he and the others ran up to the entrance.

"Um… an insult to Tails?" I suggested, staring at the doll.

"PAN!"

I whipped 'round to see Azalea and the two guys we met yesterday, Maroon and Wendell, dashing in our direction. Maroon, who had pulled out a pair of guns, was loading them and preparing to fire.

"Get down!" he roared, and all of us (except the Tails doll) acknowledged. With two blams, bullets rocketed toward and through the doll and traveled straight through it, causing it no harm.

"How the hell-?" Maroon wondered, stopping with the others in front of us. We quickly leapt to our feet, and stared at the doll, which was looking directly at me.

"Hey, is it just me, or is the doll staring at me?"

The others noticed it, too, and steps awoke us from that state of shock.

It was Ivy, except she looked different. She was wearing a spaghetti-strap, green mini-dress, with silver-colored, knee-high boots and gloves. Her hunter-green eyes eyed the doll as she pulled up a silver bow with a steel arrow prepared to fly.

"Guys, there's something wrong with that doll!" she exclaimed, aiming at it.

"No, it's totally normal for a doll resembling one of the Freedom Fighters to start glowing black and to levitate in the air!" I responded, as Azalea and I readied our weapons.

"Other than that! Look closer!"

All of us stared carefully at the speechless, unmoving doll. Then I noticed a small dark figure inhabiting the inner part of the doll, where, if it was a Mobian, its heart would be. Azalea seemed to have noticed to, since the color seemed to drain from her muzzle.

"HO-HO-HO!"

"Oh, seriously?" I muttered to myself as I looked up at Eggman's descending robot, which resembled a huge, ferocious panther. The cyber-cat was illuminating a similar aura to the little, creepy dollie and was probably as tall as the five-story Tommy Turtle Memorial Hospital in New Mobotropolis. With shifting, sharp claws and different small doors that might've held weaponry like machine guns and missiles, I felt the air around us slightly stiffen in fright. The robot roared in fury, focusing its gaze on us. A small, metallic cockpit rose from the thing's head, holding the fat man himself.

"Like my new invention, hmm? And I see you've already associated with the little surprise hidden within the doll," he said, combing his mustache thoughtfully.

"Eggman, what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be back at your base, working on a better design instead of just… this?" Sonic yelled over the grinding of gears in the robot, gesturing to it.

Eggman's frowned and his mustache drooped. "In case you didn't happen to notice, rodent, I've gained a new power source, thanks to Miss Azalea here." He gestured to her and she gritted her teeth. Then, a he threw down a book, unfamiliar to me, and Azalea ran forward and snatched it up. "The book was incredibly useful. Now then, I suppose that the demon in my friend should be awakened. Don't you agree?"

Without warning, a blast of powerful, black energy surged out of the doll and into the open air. The clear sky darkened with thick clouds of black smoke as the Tails doll dropped to the ground and a demon began to take form.

The thing was 15 feet tall, at least, with razor-sharp claws on its six arms/legs and spikes on its back. Its eyes glowed an ominous and thundering green color, as it thrust its head into the sky and roared. The others stared up at the two opponents with a surprised and irritated glare (Well, except for Antoine, who was shaking with fear, trying to look brave.), and prepared themselves for the battle about to take place. Questions jumbled into my head, but I ignored them all. I craned my neck up to briefly observe the demon, then back at the smaller-but-just-as-menacing robot, and thought, _Well, this is going to go over well._

* * *

**Well, this is an interesting predicament, eh? Prepare yourselves when we witness the first fight for the E.D. next Friday. We'll also be learning more about the mythology that thrives on the world of Auroropolis (where the E.D.'s mothers live) and be getting an insight on Robotnik's new companion and plans for dictatorship of not just Mobius, but the universe. See ya!**


	12. Chapter 12

***WARNING!* A long chapter is headed your way! ;)**

**Yes, ladies and gentlemen, here it is! Chapter 12 (Wow, time really flies!) Recently, I've gotten into the _Maximum Ride_ novels, and I used the books as an inspiration for this chapter. (Awesome books by the way!) But enough of me blabbing. Here we go!**

* * *

**Chapter 12**

**Battles**

**Ivy's P.O.V.**

"Er, when you said training, did you mean it was going to be this extreme?"

I flashed a _Not right now._ look at Maroon. A dark, immense cloud had covered up the sun, like a blanket of dark doom. A perfect but odd weather change to fit the mood. The demon suddenly became happier. Strange. But now, I ignored those facts, as I couldn't be interrupted now, my brain beginning to calculate the demon's stats. Dad always said to sort out priorities and take them one at a time.

Except he was dead.

"So how are we going to beat these things, I wonder," Azalea thought aloud, a look of thinking on her face.

"Well, one thing I know for an absolute fact: that is no ordinary Shade Demon," I told the others, still thinking.

"It doesn't take a genius to figure that out," I heard Pansy mutter. I shot her a look of annoyance before going back to thinking. I was sensing a strong force of energy emitting from the demonic creature, a very high energy signature. It must've been feeding off of an energy source that was inside its body. The robot was probably being powered by the same source, whatever the source was. A new thought penetrated my mind. I remember reading a book in the library about varying levels of power something can reach by absorbing the energy or using a magical object that held in infinite source of the energy, like the Chaos Force and Chaos Emeralds. If my current thoughts were correct, then the energy from our planet worked in a similar way that Chaos did. So then that would mean-

"That's it!" I exclaimed, and the others stared at me. Nocking an arrow into my bow, I shot it at the demon. It roared, and absorbed the arrow into its body from one of its legs, swallowing it whole. I smiled, knowing that I had the correct hypothesis.

"The demon," I began to explain as quickly as I could, "is kind of like an embodiment of Chaos energy, absorbing all surrounding forms of energy, then converting the energy masses into the power that charges it. Except, it's the type of energy that it uses instead of Chaos energy. A different type of energy is being used, because Chaos energy isn't as negative as this kind."

"Ah, good observation," Robotnik praised me. I had forgotten he was here. "My new companion will explain everything to you, eventually. Hopefully you won't be dead by then. But for now, attack my pets!" He laughed again and went back inside the robot's head, laughing crazily.

The two dark presences focused their gaze on us and stared, like we were the main course to a meal (Or, at least, the robot did. The demon's face was too misshapen for me to read.). The robo-panther shot missiles at us, and Sally ordered, "Scatter!" over the roar of the sky-streaking missiles. We all dodged to the right, out of the way, leaving Freedom HQ to take the hit. Azalea dropped the book and widened her eyes when she saw she had dropped it. Luckily, a nanite shield popped up just in time to protect the base from falling to pieces and the book, too. Nicole's physical form picked up the book and began to disappear.

"Nicole!" Sally exclaimed, reaching her hand toward the shield.

"Sally, I'll be fine! Now go!" we heard her respond over the explosions, as her physical form disappeared and covered all of us up.

Sally nodded, looking a little reluctant to leave Nicole.

"Alright, here's the plan," she began, "Freedom Fighters, we'll take the robot-"

"And we'll take the demon-thing," Azalea continued, gesturing to the five of us ("Yeah, five of us against a demon and six seasoned fighters against a less-dangerous robot. Way to divide up the ranks," Maroon muttered. I glared at him in response, while Wendell sighed in exasperation.).

"OK, Sonic, provide assistance to them," Sally reasoned. The five of us were silent to show our agreement.

"Do I still get to tease Eggman, though?" Sonic complained. Sally sighed, muttering an annoyed, "Fine." under her breath. He pumped his fist.

"Azalea, prep your team while we formulate our plan. If you finish off early, give us a hand and we'll do the same for you." Sally and the remaining F.F. made a circle and began to formulate a plan. We did the same.

"Alright, so here's what I need," she began after taking in a shaky breath (When I heard her think _OK, what are some commands leaders use in battles?,_ I swallowed in worry.). "Erm, you two-" She gestured to Maroon and Wendell. "what can you do again?"

"I'm more of a long-range person, fighting using fist-combat and being able to use any gun I can get my hands on. Usually, though, I like using these." Maroon pulled out his pistols.

"And I'm close-range, with the same fighting style as Maroon, but I use tomahawks instead of guns." Wend showed off his weapons. Azalea nodded, thinking _OK, we can work with that._

"Alright, Ivy, I need you to stay here and get me all of the statistics you can on the demon, to see if we can exploit a secret weakness or something."

I nodded. "I'll let you know if I see anything."

"Maroon, provide as the demon's distraction so the four of us can see if anything affects it."

"Good, I'm awesome at distracting things."

I rolled my eyes, and heard Wendell think, _Ain't that the truth._

"Azalea, you ready?" Sally called over to us, and I noticed the group had disbanded.

The blue chinchilla exhaled and drew her trident. "As ready as I'll ever be."

"Alright. Teams, let's move out!" We barreled for our targets, ready for what ever they were going to throw at us.

"Maroon, get going!" Azalea called to him and he nodded in response. I prayed that he hadn't forgotten how to scale up moving surfaces, but he did fine for himself. He skittered up to the demon and shot it right in the eye with a bang that seemed to rattle the sky. Roaring frustration, the demon began to use his top two arms to pry off Maroon, but he was holding on for dear life on his top, lone horn.

"Sonic, you and Wendell tear off the arms trying to get Maroon! Pansy and I will handle its feet!" The two guys nodded and Azalea and Pan ran to the monster's feet, ready to provide as extra help. They pulled out their weapons and began to stab at its 20 separate toes, releasing black blood from the wounds. During all this time, I had put away my bow and began to calculate as fast and as much as my head would let me without exploding.

While standing behind the shield Nicole was using to protect me, I looked at the demon carefully. I wasn't seeing any signs of weakness in any of its arms or legs, or any part of its body for that matter. In under one minute, I had scaled throughout its entire body as well as I could, trying not to get distracted by the two fights and the panther's missiles continuously bombarding the shield, and hadn't found anything.

"Hey! How's the search coming?" Azalea yelled, avoiding the creature's feet that were trying to squash her and Pan like a bug.

"I'm not finding anything!" I replied, craning my neck out of the way of a missile explosion so I could continue scanning. Then-

_How could I be so stupid?_ I thought to myself. "Wait, Azalea!"

"Yeah?"

"Remember that power source I told you about earlier?" She nodded, avoiding a foot swipe to the head. "Well, if we remove its power, then it'll grow weak enough for us to defeat it!" I stared closer at the demon and saw the strongest part of the aura illuminating from its chest. "Right there!" I pointed to the spot and Azalea followed my finger. She nodded at me, and gave me a thumbs-up to show she had gotten the message. I jumped away from the shield and ran to them to help.

"So, we were basically overthinking this," I told the two other demigoddesses as soon as I caught up with them. "We should really be focusing on how to get the source, whatever it may be, from the demon."

Azalea's face was thoughtful, and then she called the guys down from their place on top of the demon. Once they had made their way down, Pansy created a small earthquake a little way away from the demon to distract it, giving us some time to briefly explain my thoughts and to formulate a plan.

"So what do we do?" Maroon asked shakily, a dangerous but amused look on his and the other guys' faces. Although, I suppose if you're to be bucked on the back of a demon like a bull, I might be a little off in the head as well.

"We need to get Wendell and Ivy into the demon's chest, so we can find a way to disconnect the power it's using. To do so, all of us are gonna have to make a huge distraction to keep it off them." This is when an idea sparked in my head. I showed off a crazy grin.

"Uh-oh. Look's like Ivy found a solution."

"I've got an idea. A crazy idea, but it just might work." I formed a circle and began to explain as fast as I could.

* * *

Pansy gave me a thumbs-up at me and I nodded my head in acknowledgement. She and the others in our group were standing side by side as Wendell was high up in the air, flying with his bat wings and holding me, a flashlight, and the weapons (safely away from me, of course). Azalea stepped forward and raised her hands, not taking her eyes off the clouds. The mass slowly began to part around a certain section, creating a hole in the darkness.

Since Azalea was a hydrokinetic, we depended on her to move the cloud (since clouds are basically water in its gas form) in any way possible that would release a bit of the sunlight towards the demon. After researching these types of demons, I learned that, true to the name "Shade Demon", they were only adapted to the dark, never to light. So if we exposed a little sunlight to them, then their power would be weakened immensely.

After one, tense minute, the demon had stopped the investigation of Pan's distraction, and was starting to lumber over to us. Then-

"GRAAAGH!"

Azalea had finally lifted the cloud cover and let a spot of sun shine on the demon, who covered its face in sheer fright.

"Go!" Azalea cried, and the two of us whizzed down toward the demonic creature. Wendell used one hand to hold onto me, and the other to slice a hole in the demon's chest with his tomahawks. Another scream issued from the demon as we both zoomed inside.

"Ugh, gross," Wendell exclaimed in disgust as we landed on one of the demon's ribcages. His tomahawk blades were slightly smoking after touching the skin of the hideous creature. He clicked on the flashlight and we both almost stumbled over each other when we saw the scenery. All around us, pulsating, sickly-looking muscle and tissue ran along the inner walls of the creature. Oil-black blood ran inside surrounding veins and tubes attached to the walls like a complicated data stream system. The aura was so strong, that I felt it difficult to breathe.

"This way," I whispered to him after I snapped out of my awe-struck state. While this creature was gruesome and evil, I would've loved to learn about its structure. But playing doctor would have to wait. We had a mission to do.

Following the strong energy signature, I quickly led Wendell deeper into the beast. We had a time limit, so we had to get this done efficiently and quickly: Extract the power source, leave as fast as possible, beat the demon into the ground, then help the others if they needed it. Simple enough, right?

As we tightrope-walked the demon's heartstrings, I felt an intense wave of negative energy flashed through out the heart chamber. I almost stumbled into the seemingly-bottomless abyss, it was so powerful.

"You alright?" Wendell asked nervously, grabbing my hand before I fell.

"Y-yeah," I stuttered, then pointed forward. "We're close. I can feel it."

Sure enough, a small tunnel was revealed at the end of the black string, illuminating a black light and radiating a dark energy. We snuck inside as the walls rumbled and a distant roar echoed throughout the walls.

"We gotta move," Wendell urged, and we continued to move forward. Then we stopped, gasping. A huge cylinder came into view, shining with the flashlight's glare. It was located in the dead center of the slightly thumping, sticky ground of the heart, and we squinted our eyes to observe the object within the glass container. The object, a small, black stone, was hooked up to several wires that ran along the floor (luckily, we hadn't tripped over any).

"Now that we've found this weird stone of limitless power, how on Mobius do we get to it?"

Wendell's question was as good as mine, and handed me the flashlight. He stepped forward cautiously and lifted up one of his tomahawks. With a small wrist movement, he knocked his tomahawk blade against the container. The blade went straight through the glass.

"Whoa…" he murmured, and, much to my astonishment, brushed his hand straight in and out of the glass walls. No alarms started blaring, or angry demons began to move into the room. There was only the distant rumbling of the demon's cries and humming of the machine at work. He shook his head in amazement. "It can't be that easy, can it?"

"It never is," I responded, moving closer to him and the container. Another roar issued from above, louder (and angrier) this time.

"Maybe we're lucky. Whatever the reason, grab it and let's go. This place is giving me the creeps!" Wendell was right. Swiftly, I reached in, pulled out the stone and breaking the wires, and stepped back.

That was approximately the time when everything began to go wrong.

With an earth-shattering BANG!, the chamber shuddered and groaned as the main power source was disconnected, and the two of us fell onto the ground, hard. The flashlight was knocked out of my hand from the blast, and the light bulb shattered. A total blackness waved over the room, except for the stone. The stone had started to shift from its deep-black color to a light green, the color of my fur. Wendell stared, as well as I.

"Whoa," I heard him mutter. As we stared, the stone began to glow brighter and brighter as I felt a strong energy begin to pulse from the stone into me. So much raw power boiled up inside me, and my whole body began to glow a bright aura that was growing stronger by the second. The warm feeling became a fiery body cast as the green illumination if light suddenly engulfed the entire room. Wendell and I shielded out eyes to make sure we didn't go blind, as I felt the entire room begin to shake.

"What's going on?!" I exclaimed, scared for my life and rejecting the power which wanted to take control.

_Don't worry, child. Embrace this new potential to help your friends._

This voice didn't sound like any I had heard before, but It was right. I needed to defeat this demon to help them. Reluctantly, I stopped fighting and let the energy make itself at home within me.

* * *

**Azalea's P.O.V.**

A phenomenal explosion kick-started to life within the demon's chest and reached outward to the sky, almost knocking us to our feet. I had managed to convince the others to stand down and play defense while the demon roared and used offense. Now it was basically rolling on the ground, screeching in agony and narrowly avoiding rolling over the creepy Tails doll multiple times (not that I wouldn't have mind the thing getting run over).

This was probably my scariest moment on Mobius so far, yet I did so well with leading the team and issuing orders. I guess that that was where my natural leadership skills came in handy.

"Hey, look's like the two of 'em did some-" Pansy stopped speaking and stared at the smoke rising from its chest. "Hey, what the heck is that?" We all turned to look at a bright ball of light glowing in the sky and did a double take when I saw that inside the ball was-

"It-it's Ivy!" Wendell panted as he ran up to us. Sweat was pouring down his face by the gallon, and I asked him what happened.

"Went in… found stone… l-light engulfed her…" he managed. He looked back up at the light-sphere worriedly, bending forward to catch his breath.

"How'd you get out?" Sonic asked.

"D-don't know… the light told me to leave, s-so I obeyed."

Wendell rubbed his temple, saying, "I remember reading something on this. It was on Chaos energy, but whatever this weird energy is, it reacts the same way. It said that whenever an event like this occurs, there are two things that might come from it." I saw his face go pale and he whispered, "Oh no."

"What?!" Maroon exclaimed.

"She's either dying, or going super."

I knew what dying meant, but the other thing was new. "What do you mean by 'going super'?"

"It's when you absorb a crazy-huge amount of energy, which gives you new, incredible abilities and flight. Only a few beings have super forms." Wendell began to pace worriedly. "For example, if Sonic obtains all seven of the Chaos Emeralds, he goes Super Sonic. His new abilities gained are flight, near-invulnerability, increased stats, and his body turns gold and eyes red."

Wondering what Chaos Emeralds were, I asked, "So Ivy is either dying or turning golden and powerful? Gee, those options sound interesting."

"Well, super form appearances are different for everyone, so there's no telling what could come out of it," Sonic added. "And judging from that huge glow, Ivy's probably going super."

He was right. With a shattering bang, the light broke away and we froze in shock. Robotnik and the other Freedom Fighters had the exact same reaction.

"Oh my gods. Ivy?!"

* * *

**I ended it on a cliffhanger! I know, I'm evil. :) Stay tuned for the battle's conclusion and the revealing of my first super form!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Konichiwa! ("hello" in Japanese)**

**Thanks to all the commenters, I really appreciate it. I'm a bit tired, but I have the next chapter right here. And caution, I have a bit of fluff at the end. Anyways, let's get to it! 3**

* * *

**Chapter 13**

**Transformation**

**Ivy's P.O.V.**

If you're stuck in the middle of a war and have a destiny to defend two worlds, life is often extremely difficult.

When you become, quite literally, a beacon of hope, things can get a bit more… unpredictable.

Power of huge proportions sent flashing waves along my entire body, and the angry heat waiting to be unleashed ceased. The same warm feeling when I held the stone returned, and I felt the stone begin to disappear from my hand. It was dispersing into molecules of floating pebbles, and the pieces wormed their way inside my heart, without pain.

The light created a light cast around my body as my battle dress and boots were whisked away, and replaced with a silver one-piece jumpsuit with sparkling green leaves. See-through slippers pulled onto my feet, and my bow and quiver reappeared, ready to work. In one swift movement, the light pulled away, revealing me in my new uniform. The thoughts of the others' reactions, good, bad, and shocked, penetrated my mind.

_Are her fur and eyes GLOWING? _I heard Azalea wonder. Indeed, my fur was radiating a bright silver, and my eyes must've changed color, too (irises had turned a dark emerald).

My thoughts were interrupted by the demon, who had snapped out of its shocked state and began to issue another roar. It launched itself towards me, and I thought, _Crud. Now what?_

_Use your strength! _the voice inside my head demanded. Suddenly, I could see myself stopping the demon, merely by just holding out my hand to hold it back. Hoping for the best, I thrust out my hand and prepared for my arm to collapse on itself from the demon's charge. But the blow never came. Instead, I watched as a huge booming sound rattled the surrounding area as demon head met mongoose palm.

_Foolish girl!_

My head screamed in agony as I heard the demon's sickening voice curse at me, enraged. Head throbbing, I used my other hand to swiftly land a nice, left uppercut right on his forehead. With a loud, mental swear, he (judging by his voice, I could at least tell which gender it was) fell onto his back, creating a demon-shaped hole in the field.

_This is my chance! _I thought, watching him struggle to stand back up. Clenching my right fist, a bright oak leaf-shaped hieroglyph-thing appeared on the back of my hand, as I commanded the grass to trap the beast. Nothing happened.

"H-ha!" the doctor cried mockingly, a bit of nervousness in his voice. "Some super form you are! You're even weaker then Super Sonic!"

_Weak? She'll show you weak, _the voice fumed angrily inside my head.

After a few seconds of concentration, a huge vine appeared from the grass, followed by three more. All of them coiled around the demon's wrists, and two more sprung up to attack the ankles. Another vine swirled and tightened around his neck, and his green eyes seemed to change from drunk on power to a little worried.

_I-impossible! This is not what the master said would happened! _he screeched in horror. _You are weak! Just some stupid, unholy offspring! You are not pure! YOU CAN'T WIN!_

_Sorry, _I responded, forming a huge, avatar left fist radiating with green energy. The vines threw him back onto his feet unsteadily as I charged up my punch. _You won't be touching my planet anytime soon._

In mid-fury-cry, I slammed my fist straight into and through the monster's chest. A tense silence fell over us all as the demon turned to a cloud of ash and was sizzled away by the sun. I turned on Robotnik, and said, "I have just as much power as anyone in their Chaos forms. And don't you forget it." My avatar hand closed over his robot and I crinkled it up like an empty soda can. He screamed in frustration and popped out of the robot's head in his floating cockpit before he could be broken like a toothpick.

"You'll regret this," he growled viciously as a small machine gun deployed out of a small door and began to heat up, ready to fire. The aim tilted up towards me, and the missiles began to fire.

"No, I don't think I will," I responded, destroying all of the missiles in mid-flight with a flick of my wrist. I wound up my shimmering hand, and slapped him with the back of my fist. The force of the impact sent him flying away, spinning rapidly and cussing heatedly. He disappeared from view as I levitated to the ground, the super form and hand vanishing, leaving little ol' me with the stone in my hands. Silence from the others, even their minds blank.

"Holy crap," Maroon said, astonished. That summarized everyone's reactions from my perspective. "How'd you do that?"

Before I could respond, I felt my power begin to fade fast, and nearly crumpled face-first into the dirt. Wendell caught me in his arms before I actually hit the ground, as everything in me started to go numb.

"Ivy!" Wendell exclaimed, lifting me up to my feet. I gulped, and tried to stand back onto my feet, but ended up falling to my knees. The stone dropped out of my hands and onto the ground, killing all the grass surrounding it. Unknown visions ran rampant inside my head: multiple blueprints spinning in my head, maniacal laughter roaring in my ears, the smell of burning flesh and smoke filling my nose. The sharp taste of blood overtook my mouth as I began to hyperventilate. I thought I was going to go mad if the images didn't stop soon. Then, a slithering voice swallowed it all:

"_Find them. They have one of the sacred stones. If they obtain the rest, the rebellion will end. Then, we will finish them off. Once, and for all."_

I collapsed onto the dirt, heavily and taking in as much air as possible.

"Ivy! Are you alright?" Wendell exclaimed, shaking my shoulder. "Whatever's happening, it isn't real. Now snap out of it!"

"Make it stop…" I moaned, feeling tears well up inside of me. Wen hugged me tight, whispering, "It's over, Ives. Let go." I cried into his shoulder as the others gawked in a circle around us.

"What happened?" Pansy inquired, her eyes curious and apprehensive.

"I-I saw a bunch of visions…" I gasped in horror, once the tears stopped.

"Don't worry, it's gone. You're safe now," Wendell assured me, hugging me tighter. Strange, he had never showed any extreme signs of affection like this to me before…

I described to them what I had experienced, and the others looked absolutely mortified.

"It must be the stone. The negative aura must be affecting you," Maroon guessed.

"No, really? How long did it take for you to brew that up, idiot?" I slapped my hands over my mouth, realizing what I had just said. The words had managed to pour out before I could stop them. Wendell had pulled away from me after my loud outburst, and I resisted the urge to reach out and hold him close again. That would be too awkward.

"Yep, the negative aura is definitely affecting you," Pansy confirmed. "But what do we do with it?" All of us stared at the stone, which had stopped glowing black and had turned to a gentle, transparent shade of green.

"It seems to be stabilized now," Azalea observed. She reached over and poked the stone. She pulled back her hand sharply and swore as a small trail of smoke sizzled from her glove. "I can't touch it!"

"It must still be cooling off after being used for so much power," I hypothesized.

"What's going on?" Nicole asked, reappearing in her physical form, holding the book Azalea had given to her to hold. "I sense that Robotnik's presence is gone, but what is that huge energy signature I'm sensing? It doesn't seem to be Chaos energy."

"Nicole! Can I have the book?" Azalea exclaimed, popping up to her feet. The lynx returned the hardback book to her, and the chinchilla flipped through the pages rapidly, scanning the pages as she went. "Aha!"

"What?"

"It says here, in the book, things about this stone. Look here-" We all crowded around her and read a passage written in messy handwriting:

_The Aura Stones are rocks made of pure Aura life, holding traces of the eight goddesses themselves and possessing a vast quantity of unsustainable energy. The eight fragments remaining can be used for both malicious and positive purposes, but can only be harnessed in their true power by few. Not many are known in the universe of having such incredible talents. But for the ones who do know how to use the stones, they must be used carefully. Tapping into the energy can cause painful side-effects, including future visions, headaches, weariness, and others. In extremely rare cases, death may also be a result._

_Usually, when the subject can absorb Aurorian energy, there are three stages of transformation, all of which increase natural abilities and statistics by various amounts. Stage one is considered the most safest but least powerful (compared to the other transformations). Stage two has a higher risk of death, but more power. Stage three is the highest level ever recorded, but can only be reached by gods or their descendents. The common prediction for trying to reach a higher level is the subject either spontaneously combusting or creating a blast so huge, it might have the potential to create a blackhole._

"My dad read this to me when I was younger, and I knew I'd heard about these stones before," Azalea said as we continued to read.

"This doesn't sound like Chaos transformations, does it?" Tails asked Sonic.

"I don't think so," he answered. "But you know with girls falling from the sky by portals formed in their books, I'll believe anything."

"Wait, what?" Maroon, Wendell, and I asked in unison.

"It's nothing. Anyways, Ivy must've reached Stage One in energy potential. There's a passage here that explains it." She pointed to the right page and it read:

_Stage One transformation usually occurs when the subject is at first contact with a power source. Reactions, power increases, and appearances vary per person, but most result in a powerful avatar and doubled power. If the stone was being used before for another use, the resulting energy might temporarily take over the stone-user._

"That sounds exactly like what just happened," I commented. "My fur color and clothes changed, the avatar hand, and the power I was using; I couldn't generate all that by myself. And then those visions, they must be related to the evil lady running the whole demon empire."

Pansy widened her eyes. "You know about her?" I nodded. "That's weird, because just last night, I had similar visions to these events and to the dark person managing this whole mess."

"So we have no idea who's in charge of this?" Sally asked.

Azalea shook her head. "No, but the book probably has answers. And whoever he/she is, they managed to contact Robotnik and join forces with him."

"That's probably going to create a bigger mess, right?"

"If he did accept the offer, then it could mean a new and stronger force to have to take down. That would mean the war would get worse. A lot worse."

"So what do we do with the stone for now? I mean, it'll obviously be useful to us, won't it?" Pansy questioned us. We all looked at the stone uneasily.

"I'll keep it, and find a use for it later," I suggested. "And then, after I find a safe place," I smiled. "do you think I can join the team?"

"Absolutely," Azalea assured me, grinning.

"Welcome to the Elemental Demigoddesses," Pansy acknowledged me, saluting me cheesily. We all laughed. It felt wonderful to laugh, especially after the catastrophe we had just been through.

"Wait, don't count us out!" Maroon exclaimed. "I'm sure that Wendell and I can lend a hand."  
"No, you can't," I responded, crossing my arms. "I'm not letting you two risk your lives. Besides, you have school to attend."

"What, and you don't?" Wendell responded.

"I've read practically every book in the school library, plus all the textbooks the school owns. I think I'll be good."

Both of them looked at me sorrowfully. I felt bad, leaving them and not allowing them to do anything to help.

"Alright, alright, you can occasionally lend us a hand." They grinned and high-fived. "But be sure to focus on your academics still."

"Aww…" they groaned in unison, and I giggled. Looking around, I noticed how smoky and desolate the field had become. I decided to hold off on treating the dead plants until I had fully regained my strength, just to be safe.

I picked up the stone, which had cooled down, and transformed back into my regular clothes like the two others. I shoved the stone into my turtleneck pocket, to keep it safe and we all moved back into Freedom HQ to take a look at the book and investigate any clues about the ringleader of the dark Shades.

For the rest of the day, we treated our minor battle injuries and searched and noted specifics on the Shades' leader and a bit on our legacy. Azalea, who had luckily remembered quite a bit of the book's content, located specifics on the main antagonist in the book. The villain was a fiendish lady of infinite age but dazzling looks, with what was described as a snake-like voice and an all-black style of clothing. Pansy's and my visions were almost the exact same thing to the lady we had seen and heard in our minds. We also found out the exact meaning for the term B.L.O.W.R.A.G.S., which turned out to be an acronym for the names of all the elemental goddesses (why they didn't use another name is beyond me). That meant that we still had to find three more of our kind.

Once the sun had set and we had eaten a quick dinner of leftover chili-dogs, I decided to walk with the two guys to the Chao garden we called home. For old times' sake.

"So…" Maroon said awkwardly after a moment of silence as we walked, "you really are leaving."

"Yeah," I responded, staring up at the pink sky. It was hard to believe that school had only been in session for a couple of weeks, and now I was completely moving out of it. And then tomorrow, everyone would be gossiping about theories on why one of the smartest kids in school suddenly decided to drop-out. It would be only the two of them now, to deal with that harsh P.E. teacher we had and to try to stay awake in history while monotone Mr. H. droned on about the dangers of the Gene Bombs dropped on Mobius by the evil race known as the Xorda.

We arrived at the willow tree gates and paused for a moment.

"I hope the Chao like it without you here," Wendell murmured. "And I hope they like the Tails doll."

"Oh my gods, did you really bring that thing?" Maroon groaned.

"Well, yeah. The Chao seemed to like it, so I thought it could replace Ivy."

I smiled weakly. "That creepy thing isn't replacing me. It's just keeping a spot for me when I come back."

_If you come back,_ Wendell whispered in his mind. I swallowed and hugged Maroon.

"Take care of Wendell, alright?"

"Totally, man. See you."

He took the Tails doll and entered the Chao garden. I heard the greeting of multiple Chao echo throughout the forest as the willow trees began to close up once more.

"I should probably get going too," Wendell announced timidly. He started to follow Maroon but I held him back with my hand in his. He began to blush madly, and I saw sweat appear on his forehead. My reactions were the same, but I began to speak nevertheless.

"You watch yourselves, OK?"

He smiled at me in agreement. "Absolutely." He leaned over and kissed my nose. "You too."

_Holy crud, did I seriously just do that? Man, she must think I'm a creepy-_

"Wen, I can still hear your thoughts."

He blushed harder and grinned uneasily. "Oh. Whoops. Sorry."

I chuckled and ruffled his hair, releasing the tension in the air. "It's fine. Seriously though, take care of yourself, alright?"

"Yeah." He smoothened down his hair and shook out his bat wings. "This isn't good-bye." He entered the Chao garden and the willow trees closed behind him. I stood there for a long time, staring at the unmoving trees. Fireflies began to take over the night, as I walked back to my new home. The sweet night air filled my lungs as I strolled through the forest and back past the doors into Freedom HQ. Everyone was relaxing and chatting quietly as I received directions to get to my room from Nicole. The small side hut was comforting and quiet, the silence burning in my ears. I went into my room, which was almost exactly like the library, except tinier, with a small side bathroom and single-sized bed. Almost instantly, I changed into warm pajamas and slammed into the pillows, praying for good dreams to come.

* * *

**Mysterious P.O.V.**

Someone was coming. I could sense it in the air, a familiar presence. After only a few weeks of being de-Roboticized by subjects unknown, I was quietly hidden among the bushes of the Great Forest. I knew Scourge wanted her dead. But I wasn't going to let that happen. And if somehow she was killed by him and his miserable gang…

Then let hell take me.

* * *

**Who is this mysterious person? And I hope everyone likes this Ivy x Wendell pairing as well. Don't worry Maroon will find someone. Ciao for now! (Geez, what's with my bad rhyming today?)**


	14. Chapter 14

**'Sup everyone? I hope all are well, as am I right now (well, mostly).**

**First off, I'm sorry if over the next couple of weeks I'm somewhat lagging in accuracy of chapter postings. My teachers gave my class a math project and a language arts/social studies project that's going to be worth 15% of our grade. :P But I still will post chapters. But for now, enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 14**

**Royal Family and Explanations**

**Azalea's P.O.V.**

One day went by. One day of relaxation and a chance to take everything in.

Man, heroes really have it tough, huh?

The day after the fight, I awoke first to find a bundled-up newspaper sitting in front of our doorstep. The newspaper, _New Mobotropolis Gazette_, had my eyes widened as I read the bolded headline on the front page:

**NEW MYSTERIOUS GROUP REVEALED! WHO ARE THEY?**

Under the headline was a black-and-white photo of the three of us, Freedom Fighters and Ivy's friends talking in front of the school a couple days ago. I walked back inside the hut and into my room, quickly showering and dressing in a white tee, jean shorts, and tan sandals, then back out to see Pansy and Ivy awake and moving groggily towards the fridge to get some breakfast.

"Guys!" I called to them as they turned and saw me, Their faces brightened as they saw me.

"Hi," Pansy yawned, wiping the sleep from her eyes and reaching into the fridge to grab a jug of milk. "Wassup?"

"Look at the front page of this newspaper," I told them, handing the paper to Ivy. Pansy leaned over from the milk she was pouring into a cup and read the headline. Their reactions were similar to mine, and Pansy narrowly avoided spilling the milk.

"What?" Ivy exclaimed, scanning the article with her eyes. "Listen to this: 'After the defeat of the unknown enemy yesterday, it was confirmed that a group of five was sighted with our local Freedom Fighters, helping them fight. The teenage, blue chinchilla, decided as the team's leader, found on the team has no records of any appearances on this planet, while the purple fox has many recordings of appearances in various areas globally. The purple fox, Pansy, is on Robotnik's most wanted list and is to be treated with extreme caution. Ivy Mongoose, an academic prodigy who had highest test scores in the entire class of New Mobotropolis High, and her two friends were also found associating the team. The Acorn Republic has posted an order to this group, strongly requesting the Freedom Fighters and this new team to come in and be questioned for the safety of the kingdom and its people.'"

"Geez, they make us sound like criminals," Pansy commented, chugging down the drink.

"You are technically a criminal," Ivy said to Pansy (she glared in response), tossing the paper onto the dinner room table, "But we should tell the others and then plan to head in today."

"Get dressed and I'll tell the others," I told them. They thanked me and headed into their rooms to change as I glanced at a nearby clock. 7:15.

_The Freedom Fighters should been up by this time._ I thought as I walked out of the hut and to Freedom HQ. As I went in through the door, I smirked at the fact that Ivy had probably read Pansy's mind and learned of her position on Robotnik's danger meter. Ivy would definitely be of use to our team. I also made a quick mental note to keep my mind blank when I was around her. Who knows what info she might be able to find in my head.

"-and we really should go in. Elias would want to know about-" Sally paused her discussion as I strolled into the main room, where everyone was dressed and listening to Sally talk.

"Hi," I greeted them. "You heard."

"Yes, Elias contacted me this morning," Sally answered.

I gave her a questioning look.

"Elias is my brother and king."

Pause. "Wait, king?"

"King of the Acorn lineage? Rules over New Mobotropolis?"

I shook my head.

She turned to Sonic. "Didn't you explain any of this to them?"

He raised up his hands in a surrendering gesture. "I did! I guess they didn't hear me while I was speed-explaining."

Sally rolled her eyes in frustration. "You know that not everyone can move as fast as you, right?"

The two began arguing and the others began to leave the table with their dishes. I just stood there, feeling a little guilty and watching the two arguing.

"Don't ya worry, they're always like this," Bunnie whispered as she walked by. "It'll take a couple minutes, but just give 'em some time." She winked and began washing her dishes in the sink. I supposed Bunnie was right, and spent the next couple minutes ignoring them and practically begging to help wash dishes ("No, you don't need to help. Let us take care of it," said Amy.).

Once the dishes were squeaky clean, the princess and the hero stopped arguing, and everyone had just finished dressing, the front door opened, revealing Pansy and Ivy waiting for us in casual attire.

"You guys ready to head out?" Pansy inquired, pushing stray velvet-purple locks behind her ears.

"Yep," Sally answered. "I'll lead you guys to Castle Acorn, and will be sure to explain everything once we're there." She glared at Sonic, who grinned cockily, and headed forward, leading the way.

(insert line here)

After clearing the front gates into New Mobotropolis, with the help of Nicole, the people (or animals) around us while we walked, seemed uneasy. As we walked to the center of the city, where the castle was located, I heard whispers and saw fingers pointing at us.

"Hey, aren't those the kids who helped Sally and her friends yesterday?" I heard one whisper.

"Only some of them," another responded. "The blue bat and red hedgehog aren't with them."

I frowned as we continued walking. "I guess we're not very popular here."

"Well, since you guys are a new team with an unknown purpose," Sonic said.

Things stayed silent as we ignored the gossiping citizens and approached the gates to the royal household.

"Whoa."

I gawked at the huge palace. No, forget "huge"; enormous, gargantuan, larger than life. Those are probably better terms to describe the proportions of the castle. I mean, sure, I had seen it off in the distance before, but this was just plain ridiculous. In addition to its size, the nanite construction was almost completely identical to brick and mortar it probably modeled after. Towers rose high into the air, and red flags with an acorn symbol sketched into the design waved proudly in the wind. Moss lightly covered the roof of the middle building, and a steady stream of water flowed through openings in the building into a small lake. The door was almost as tall as the entering building, reaching well above all our heights.

"Dang," I exhaled, my jaw dropped open and eyes taking in the sight. Even the Golden Gate Bridge wasn't as breathtaking as this, in my opinion.

"Isn't it amazing what technology can do?" Ivy smiled. "I love how the school has a large window on the top floor, so I can see everything there is to see."

Amy giggled. "Yeah, it sure is quite a sight, isn't it?"

Sally rapped the door, and said, "Elias, we need to speak to you. It's Sally."

The door opened, revealing two, bulky, bulldog guards, well taller than us (probably my height of 5'5'' back home, but they still looked tall), in green and acorn-woven uniform. They bowed down respectfully, and stood back up to full height.

"Hello, Your Highness. King Elias is currently residing in the throne-room, so we will bring you to him." The speaking guard paused a moment to look at Pansy, Ivy, and I. "And be sure to keep your… guests under control.?"

I frowned a little. _What are we, animals? _I thought, a little miffed.

_Well, technically, yes_, Ivy responded in my head. She looked a little uncomfortable. _Don't worry, they're just taking some precautions is all._

We traveled into the castle and took a few turns down corridors just as huge as the exterior. Portraits of chipmunks and squirrels lined the walls, along with the other doors and spare pieces of furniture.

"The ones on these portraits are past rulers of my family," Sally explained when I had asked about the pictures.

"Yes, her family goes back multiple generations," one of the guards added, watching us three non-Freedom Fighters with careful eyes.

We stopped in front of another door, taller than the rest and decorated with a beautiful acorn-shaped banner. The guard who wasn't watching over us knocked on the door, and a response came from the other side. "Come in."

He opened the door, and, when I thought I couldn't be more shocked in the beauty of the palace, my eyes bulged wider. The room was much like the throne we had entered when our mothers had taken Pansy and I for a little ride a few days ago. White walls and pillars covered the interior, along with a portrait of another royal leader, and a small throne in the very front of the room. In the chair, a young Mobian close to our age sat proudly in the seat. He looked much like Sally, except he had shorter red hair, a long squirrel tail, and flashing blue eyes. He wore a blue soldier's uniform, similar to Antoine's, but with colorful badges, a flowing red cape, blue boots, and a golden crown.

"Your Majesty, your sister has arrived," one of the guards informed him, bowing. Unsure of what to do in the presence of the Mobian leader, I followed similar actions.

"Thanks, you two. You may go back to your duties."

"Of course." The two guards quickly departed, leaving us with the king.

"Hello Sally," Elias greeted, beaming. He stepped down from his throne and hugged Sally warmly.

"Hi Elias," she responded, her grin just as wide as his.

They pulled away and Elias asked, "So what do I have the honor of seeing the Freedom Fighters again?"

"We've come here to talk about the incident that occurred yesterday." She gestured to Pansy, Ivy, and I. Ivy and I bowed in respect, while Pansy held up a peace sign in response.

"Oh…" he muttered, all happiness fading. "Yes. Of course. Well, the other two members are here."

"Really?" Ivy perked up, looking around.

He nodded grimly. "They are here, but against their will."

Ivy froze. "What?"

"Father had the guards extract the two from their studies, but they refused and retaliated when the guards apparently began to threaten them. Father urged them on, and we had an argument."

The spiritedness faded from the room, and Ivy seemed to get hit the hardest. "What happened?!"

As if the guards were listening through the door, the foursome opened up the throne, bringing in an angry, thrashing Maroon and unconscious Wendell.

"Get your crummy mitts offa me, you walking bricks!" Maroon was yelling furiously, trying to worm his way out of the tight grip of the guard.

"Release them!" Elias ordered angrily. The guards dropped Maroon and Wendell onto the floor gruffly. Maroon popped up onto his feet the second he hit the floor and began storming in pursuit of the guards.

"Maroon, wait!" Ivy exclaimed and ran over to him, stopping him from attacking the guards. "They aren't worth it." The guards looked uneasy as Pan, Elias, and I advanced on them.

"You know your place, you four. Why did you do this?" Elias questioned crossly.

"King Maximillian gave us orders, sire," one stuttered.

Elias sighed in frustration. "We will discuss this later. For now, resume your positions."

They nodded nervously and hurriedly left the throne-room, closing the door behind them.

"Is he alright?" I asked nervously to Ivy, when we heard a small groan from Wendell.

"Ives…" he muttered, opening his eyes at my new friend. Her smile returned, and she helped him to his feet.

"Thank goodness you're OK," she exhaled, hugging him tightly.

"Uggh, I guess I am doing well for a guy who took a fist to the back of his head," he grumbled. "Now, please let go. You're suffocating me."

"Sorry," Ivy apologized, pulling away. Pansy chuckled at their blushing and I rolled my eyes.

"Glad to see you're fine, though," I commented.

"I'm so sorry about the trouble the guards caused you two," Elias said with sincerity.

Wendell smiled. "No, it's fine. Besides, science was fairly boring. I mean, when are we ever going to have to use our knowledge on different chemical properties?"

"You never know when knowledge may come in handy," Ivy lectured him jokingly. All of us laughed at her teasing, and Elias invited us into another room connected to ruling room.

This place was much more inviting than the other hallways we traveled down. A plentiful portion of colorful couches and armchairs were arranged in a tight circle and the walls were lined with huge, wooden bookshelves. A fan spun overhead, keeping the room cool in the morning summer's heat. We all settled into the cushiony chairs and watched Elias speak.

"I truly am sorry to have caused you all so much trouble," he began sadly. "Father gave me advice as to what I should do to help the people of this city understand who this new group was. I figured that I should follow his advice, reluctantly, and send a message of interrogation to you."

"Why put it in a newspaper, though?" Pansy interrupted, folding her arms.

"To make it publicly aware that I was going to discover who you were, to have the people stop worrying about the incident and know that you were safe enough to be questioned. Now, what I need, is an explanation as to who you are. And if that is too revealing, a cover story to keep you safe. Just for now, anyways."

Pansy looked at Ivy, and Ivy mentally said, _Azalea, you're the leader. What do you think?_

I nodded solemnly and said, "Yes, I think that we should tell you everything. But first, we need one of you to get that book."

"Done!" Sonic exclaimed, dashing out the door and coming back five seconds later with the book in his hands, picking up a wind draft in his wake.

And so, the long, long, LONG explanation began, as each of us took turns as to how we were introduced into this whole situation, our heritage, extreme abilities, and the new enemies beginning to form. We used the book to provide evidence in further details, like our supposed abilities to go super with certain stones (the one we found was being safely kept in a security, energy chamber) whenever Elias asked us questions about this and that. The discussion was, what, three hours at most? Somewhere close to that.

"I only have one more question," Elias said, after we finished explaining the incident. "What are Ivy's, Maroon's, and Wendell's background stories?"

I had never thought of that before. We had never asked them about their history, and who knows, maybe their past experiences had important clues to some questions we had. The three looked a little worried, until Wendell finally uttered, "I'll go first. But be warned, this stuff could get ugly, real fast."

* * *

**Ah, isn't it great when I leave you on cliffies? Anyways, the background story for these three will cover the next chapter, and a special surprise will be at the end of the next one. Just an FYI. S.C.27 out! **


	15. Chapter 15

**Yo, I hope everyone's happy and well. A quick chapter update this time. :)**

**But before we do that, just a little foresight for this chapter. It's a bit sad, recounting the tragedies that happened to Ivy and her friends. OK, not just a bit sad, like a LOT sad. Just a little info to let you in on.**

**Let the chapter commence!**

* * *

**Chapter 15**

**Exposed**

**Ivy's P.O.V.**

When Wendell had said that he was going to begin to explain everything, I was horrified. The three of us had kept our past a secret for so long, the fate of our parents, and also what happened to the rest of our families. None of us had ever told another living soul what we had seen. And I wasn't too thrilled to be telling anyone anything now. But, in these times, it was difficult to keep any secrets. I sat back reluctantly and let Wendell begin.

"All of it started before we were born. Our parents lived in the region to the west of here, Feral Forest, and we grew up there. The first four years of our life were spent uncaring and free, along with all of our parents." Wendell paused and looked over at me comfortingly. I remained silent. "Then, when Mar turned five, since he's oldest, that's when things started to go wrong. Ivy's mom revealed her duties as a goddess and told her story, saying she was being forced to return home. At first, our parents were sure she was joking, but once she revealed her abilities, they knew it wasn't a prank. All of us coped with that for an entire year, until Robotnik came and Roboticized my mom and both of Maroon's. My dad went soon afterward, and Ivy's dad…" He paused and hugged me tight. I was crying then, quietly, into Wendell's shoulder.

"Ivy's father had gone mad and committed suicide," Maroon continued bitterly, balling up his fists. "But not before we had to witness several breakdowns and slowly watch him tear himself apart first. With the so-called 'death' of his friends and the betrayal and confusion he felt over Ivy's mom, he couldn't bear the reality. So that's how the three of us were left, lonely orphans in the ruins of our homes knowing we were goners."

"That's horrible!" Amy exclaimed, as she began to cry as well. Everyone else was reacting accordingly, shocked by the fate of our parents. I stopped crying as fast as I could so I could continue.

"It is. After Father's death, we were forced to leave our home, everything we had known. Unfortunately, none of our parents told us anything about the outside world, except for the fact that it was extremely dangerous, but they did help us identify healing plants. Although we had that knowledge, we had no idea what to expect. And so, for the next year, we spent our lives as thieves, stealing food and fighting Robotnik's forces, almost killing ourselves multiple times. Lucky for us, the plants were the things that saved our lives. So that's how I developed my liking for plants: they always ended up saving me." I paused, to remember all those plants and their classifications that saved us before continuing. "And then we found Knothole. We lived there under secret IDs for quite a while, until Robotnik invaded."

"The jerk captured everyone and was planning to use them in his Egg Grapes," Wendell said.

"Egg Grapes?" Azalea questioned.

"Spherical containment units used to absorb the life energy from beings and to convert them into energy to use to power the city. It kills them in the process."

"Cheerful. Then what?"

"Everyone was released and made it back to here, except for Maroon. He had a broken leg at the time, and we had no choice but to leave him there."

"Wendell forced me to leave him. It wouldn't have been the smartest choice, but he was my friend. If it wasn't for Wendell though, I might be dead."

Maroon's teeth were grinded together as he continued, "Robotnik decided to have a little fun with me. He pushed me to the brink of insanity and pulled me back, painfully. I was stuck there, repeating that process, until Ivy and Wen came back a few months later on a mission of mercy to save me and see if we might find our parents. We found 'em alright, but when they were in pieces. Gone." He shook in rage, looking down at his sneakers. "That was my breaking point."

I nodded solemnly. "He's right. He completely shattered in front of us, and we thought we lost him, just like my father. That is, until we brought him to the Chao garden that we had resided in and called home. The Chao saw good in him and healed him with their kindness."

"We adjusted to our life soon after that and have been living that way ever since," Wendell finished. We stayed in silence as we let the others absorb everything we had said. It was a lot to take, so we didn't expect them to recuperate as quick as we expected.

"Wow, that's… astounding." Pansy was the first one to say anything in that silence.

"Indeed. I'm quite surprised how well all of you have progressed in your lives, especially with the fate of your parents and such," Elias added cautiously, watching Maroon. The guy took a deep breath and tried to calm down, clearing his throat and stopping his shaking.

"Thanks, man. It certainly isn't fun being pulled from the brink of insanity and back again multiple times. And I'd rather not discuss it, if you don't mind." Maroon spoke in an unusually clipped tone, like it was difficult for him to control himself. A light, playful punch in the arm by Wendell and squeeze of the hand from me finally brought him back to his senses.

"Sorry about that. I just need to be careful to make sure I stay in full control at all times. Otherwise, I put everyone within in a, what, five mile radius of me in extreme danger." I heard Tails give a worried gulp as the others looked at each other nervously. The red hedgehog sighed. "It's alright to be nervous. If I were any of you, I'd think I'm completely psychotic."

"So, I'm sorry to push on further, and you don't have to answer this if you don't want to, but what happens when you lose control?" Pansy asked. The question was straightforward, but Pan seemed completely unafraid. I guessed her courage factor meant that she was almost never scared of anything.

"Well, it's kind of complicated. See, my negative emotions take over everything I know, and I go on a blind rage rant. From what Wen and Ives told me, my fur turns an almost-black red and my eyes are left white, empty spaces, and a dark aura would begin to glow around me. I'd begin attacking randomly and, if I could continue long enough, I could create an explosion that can wipe out anything within a five-mile radius. I guess, like a nuclear bomb, without the radiation."

"Sheesh, that's a lotta stuff ya have ta go through, sugah," Bunnie muttered.

"It's a decent amount of crap, I suppose," he agreed solemnly. "But I'm in control most of the time, so it's all good."

"And you said that you've been living here ever since you came here when you were _ten years old_? You endured all those hardships when you were just children?" Elias was shocked at his conclusion.

Wendell nodded. "Yep. And we've been living under fake IDs that said our parents were still in existence. That's why we haven't been caught and how we bought food and supplies we needed. Ivy is a master hacker, so if it wasn't for her, the two of us would probably be dead."

"Not to mention the fact that they pointed out multiple surprise attacks when we were fighting and got us out of over half the messes we got into," I complimented the guys. "So we've depended on each other a plentiful quantity of times."

"We're brothers and sister in a way," Maroon summarized.

Elias smiled. "Interesting. So the real reason why we're here: Are you five, and your soon-to-be members, willing to fight for our cause?"

The group of us glanced at each other, and exclaimed in unison, "Yeah!"

"Very well then. I will report this to the newspaper and tell them this story should be on the front page." He stood up and nodded his approval, still smiling. "Welcome to the Freedom Fighters."

"Thank you, King Elias," Azalea and I graced him, bowing respectively. Pansy let out a celebrative whoop while Maroon and Wendell high-fived in joy.

"I will fill out some paperwork for this group, and then you will be an official group of the initiation. We will also let the other global groups know that we have a new force of power to depend on." The others clapped for us and I grinned one of the widest grins I ever had. We were going to be a team now, all five of us and more, dependent on each other for our very survival. I couldn't wait for the excitement to begin.

* * *

"That was sort of boring, but still, we're a real team now!" Azalea squealed with glee once we departed the castle and sent Wendell and Maroon off to their home. We were heading down a near empty path toward one of the gates and talking about the chat we had.

"Sally, your brother's really nice. I was afraid he was going to banish us or something for disobeying orders," Pansy said lightly, her hands behind her head as we walked.

"No, he wouldn't do that," Sally replied, smiling a bit. Then she looked at me and asked, "All that stuff you said you saw and experienced, you said was true? All of that horrible pain, torture, and suffering was true?" I shuffled my shoes sadly, my eyes a bit glassy.

"Yeah. I've never told anyone else what happened to us, except the guys," I whispered. "I suppose it was a good idea to retell the story for people to know. Nothing positive ever happens when your emotions are kept bottled up."

Tails flew over to us and smiled. "You know, you're pretty smart if you know all that stuff."

"Thank you, Tails. And I've seen you work with machines too. You're exemplary with them." He chuckled as we walked out the gates and headed back home for lunch.

"So, what do we do next?" I asked Azalea. "We're now a registered team and everyone is aware of our presence."

"We look for our allies, which are probably located throughout the globe, and save the world," Azalea answered simply. "Since there are eight members, that we know of, we have to locate the other five, using the book and those sensing tiaras as clues. And after that's done, we can help fight Robotnik and the Dark Empress as a full force."

"Sounds a bit hard," Pansy added, popping up beside me, "but we never know what we can or can't do 'till we try."

"Alright then, let's do our best," I told them, and we gave each other a fist bump and continued home.


	16. Chapter 16

** I gotta say, life is amazing. Why, you may ask?**

**One, Easter is this weekend. And two, spring break starts in ONE WEEK! YES! :D Ahem, anywhoo...**

**We are almost up to 20 chapters! Thank you everyone for your continued love and support. Hugs and candy for all of you! 3 And just to be safe with copyright, the song "Unity" belongs entirely to the band Shinedown. I own no part of them or their music (the band's pretty cool, so check it out).**

**And for a tease: "Here I come! Roughin' with the best of 'em, the best of 'em, tougher than leather!" I don't own this song either. TEEHEE!**

* * *

**Chapter 16**

**Bluebell's Return**

**Azalea's P.O.V.**

After a scrumptious lunch of chili dogs, we spent a couple hours kicking back and relaxing. Bunnie answered a courtesy call by trimming off a couple of inches of my hair and helped me rebraid it in fishtail style. I was thankful for her favor, but also felt the heartaches of when I relaxed in a field by my old house, chatting away with Bluebell and doing each other's hair. Now though, she was in a coma and would come out of it who-knows-when, while I now had the responsibility of leading a group of female demigodsagainst a group of hell-spawn demons.

And then there was also my missing dad, mother in a distant world, and the little matter of having to save Mobius and Auroropolis.

Thoughts raged in my head as the three of us half-mortal-Mobian, half-god girls decided to go out to the field to try to let our brains cool off and to just relax. I didn't know about the other two, but I was definitely freaked out and in no state of relaxation. Pansy was still keeping her cool image, laying back on the sweet green grass of a nearby patch of field with closed eyes. Ivy had decided to bring out a few pieces of paper to sketch out a machine to use as a transportation device for our future team and something that the powerful gem could invest its strength towards.

"Plane or helicopter?" Ivy asked me, not looking up from her ideas.

"Helicopter," I responded automatically. She nodded and continued to sketch while I began braiding a few blades of grass. Another habit Bluebell and I got into.

After about an hour of complete silence in the physical world but buzzing in our heads, Ivy and I jumped when we heard a low rumbling. We looked around in surprise, but only saw Pansy snoring in the grassy bed. We laughed quietly and I asked Ivy, "Is it weird not being in school?"

"Yeah. I mean, we obviously have plenty of things to keep us busy, but it's still… different to not be in school. To be frankly honest, I miss it."

"I know how you feel. I went to school back on my home planet, and never realized how much I needed it. Right now, actually, school would be starting."

Ivy's eyebrows rose as she sketched. "School would just be getting started? That sounds so weird. We get our long break over the spring months."

"Really? That's when we would usually take our finals."

Our conversation continued back and forth as we worked and Pansy snoozed. After another hour, a rush of soft steps approached us. It was Sonic, a look of excitement on his face.

"Hey!" he shouted as he rapidly approached us. We saw Pansy jump up from her nap in surprise, yelping slightly, and pull out her bo-staff. Sonic screeched to a halt and ducked just before the diamond weapon could slap him across the face. Pan's eyes were dark and sparking with confusion and shock, then annoyance.

"What the heck were you doing?! You almost slapped me in the face!" Sonic exclaimed, a little flustered.

"You idiot! I was sleeping! You scared the living hell outta me!" Pansy yelled angrily, lightly whapping Sonic over the head with her staff multiple times. The whole event was entertaining, watching them run around and scream like chibis in an anime.

"Guys, calm down!" Ivy tried to soothe them. They completely ignored her as she stood there nervously, a drop of sweat appearing on the back of her head. "Guys? Hello?"

Sighing, I summoned to orbs of water and chucked it at them. My aim was perfect and they stopped fighting immediately. They grumbled an apology to each other and shook the water from their soaked heads and accessories.

"There. Now, what did you want to tell us, Sonic?" I said casually, a look of triumph on my face. His face lit up as the rest of the water dripped from his quills and he said, "We have a visitor, Azalea. And I think you'll be psyched to see who it is."

"Who are you-?" Pausing, then grinning wildly, I began to run to Freedom HQ eagerly, my face flashing with excitement. With the positive enthusiasm building, I bet I was running just as fast as a jogging Sonic. I would bet my life that it was Bluebell and I was totally right.

Bursting through the back entrance of the building, I mad-dashed into the living room, where a white chinchilla stood in bandages and casts, casually gossiping with the other Freedom Fighters. I stopped in the doorway, and felt my eyes brimming with tears of joy. I cleared my throat and the others shut up instantly. Bluebell turned her head and grinned at me the second she saw my face.

"Hello ma'am. Do you know where I can find my best friend?"

I laughed shakily, the tears beginning to fall as I squeezed my friend tight. She grumbled a little, saying, "Can't. Breathe."

I pulled away from my friend, wiped away the tears, and shook with pure jubilancy as she ruffled my hair. "Hey. Long time no see, eh?"

"Yeah. Blue, you're back. I can't believe it." The time that passed seemed like eternity, with Bluebell in comatose. "You got out of your coma. I-I thought that you'd be stuck in it forever."

"You didn't seriously think that I was just gonna, you know, _die_ that easily, right?" She scratched her ponytail with her right arm, encased in a cast. "Although, they had to make some executive decisions in order to save my life." She wrapped the bandages off her ankle and right arm, and, much to my horror, robotic limbs replaced her natural flesh.

"No…" I gasped, shell-shocked.

"Yeah, I know. It was quite a bit surprising to me to. You know, limbs replaced, a whole new planet and stuff. Just the minor details."

I rolled my eyes. Leave it to her to make any situation comical. "I gather you already introduced yourself to the others?"

"Yep. Man, talking, human-like animals. Who woulda thunk this is where I would be? Uh, Mom, yeah, I'm going to an extraterrestrial planet and I probably won't be back in time for dinner. Or college."

I stifled a giggle. Then Sonic and my two other teammates walked into the room, and Bluebell said, "Oh good. More people/animals/aliens." She turned back to Sally and said, "No offense."

"None taken," she smiled. I had a feeling Sally had taken a liking to her, as well as the others. And I mean, c'mon, who doesn't like a sarcastic spaz? If it worked with Sonic, then it should work with her (if he ever knew I was saying this, he would kill me).

"Bell, this is Sonic, Ivy, and Pansy," I introduced them to her, gesturing to them.

"Nice to meet you." She gave a cheesy curtsy, and added, "I like the names here, too. I mean, 'Sonic'? 'Tails'? They just kinda, pop, ya know?"

"Thank you," Sonic chuckled, amused, and Tails just smiled happily.

"Now getting onto more serious matters, how'd you get onto Mobius?" I asked my friend. She sighed in response and shook her head. "Wanna hear the whole tale, or the clipped summary?"

"Summary please," Pansy commented before I could answer, sitting on the arm of one of the beat couches. "I don't need to be anymore confused than I am now, with this whole buddy-buddy thing going here."

"Well, back on Earth, where Azalea and I came from, we've been BFFs since we were born. We've grown up together and are probably the best of friends you'll ever meet. And I gather she's told you how she got there from that weird book portal, right?"

"This haz something to do with that, _oui_?" Antoine questioned.

She confirmed his question with a nod before continuing, "Since we usually met at each other's houses whenever we were bored or to go to school, I decided to wait for her by the side of her house. While I was there, the window I waited next to started glowing some weird light, and I peeked through out of curiosity. That's when I saw that weird book thing. When I heard you scream-" She looked at me, and I shrugged. What was I supposed to do, just accept the fact I'd be reaching unknown boundaries? "-I knew something was wrong. I shattered the window to get inside her house to try and help, but while the portal was collapsing on itself, I made the mistake of jumping in after her.

"Once I was inside that light, and ended up turning into another portal linked to the one I traveled through. I landed on this planet, and was in that forest near the edge of the robotic city I saw some of you at. As I searched around for some form of life, I found these." She reached into her jean pocket and pulled out a small blue device attached to a pair of headphones and a small, iron key. My iPod and housekey.

"Whoa. How did you-?" I was surprised at the sight of some of my favorite possessions. So much had been happening, I hadn't given any thought whatsoever to finding my lost valuables. Bell handed them over to me, and I took them with shaking hands. Now I was here, on Mobius, my old valuables seemed alien to me. The others watched me carefully as I clicked the iPod on and placed the earbuds back into my ears. The song "Unity" by Shinedown blared inside my ears, as the music calmed me slightly. My iPod still had juice in it, and the music brought back memories of home. I clicked off my possessions and shoved them into my jean short pockets.

"When I found those two things, I knew there was still hope of finding you and maybe getting back home," Bell smiled, but the happiness faded automatically. "So I tried searching from you, but was stopped short by a small group of robots. The robots were surprised to see me, I suppose, and so what do they do? They beat me into the dirt and leave me there to die, that's what. I was dizzy and dying from the pounding but refused to give up hope. Then I found you, and that's how I made it to where I am now."

"Harsh," Pansy commented. "Almost as bad as the beatings I've had."

Bell's brows raised. "If the beating I had seemed minor in comparison to whatever you and any other person on this world has had, I can't imagine what life is like here."

"The whole planet is at war as we speak."

Her jaw dropped. "What?"

I sighed, and said, "I'll explain. You guys do whatever you have to do. It seems like the two of us having some catching up to do."

The crowd dispersed, leaving the two of us in the living room as I explained everything that had been happening so far to the best of my ability. The news that I was a demigod hit her pretty hard, and I could tell that the news about her unexpected move and the fact that a tyrannical genius taking over this world hit her hard. So I tried to break everything down as much as possible. Once I was through, she whistled.

"Dang. And I thought that Earth was doing badly, with global warming and whatnot. But here, weird evolved animal-things fight every day for their freedom and liberty." Her face worked through different emotion, from shock, to horror, to anger, to amaze, and back again. The hour of explanation seemed to stun her so much. It was amazing, when I thought about it, how it takes one day for everything you know and love to change forever.

A whoop of excitement made us all jump as a low rumbling began to echo from a place nearby. The two of us, plus Amy, Antoine, and Bunnie, darted outside to find out what made that noise. To our shock and amazement, we saw Tails and Ivy flying in the sky…

Inside a massive, twin-bladed helicopter of recycled metal parts.

"What the-" Bell's voice was drowned out by the whirring of the helicopter's rotors and by the huge dust clouds whooshing out of the nearby grassy fields. The others were outside, staring up with gawky expressions on their faces. Slowly, the two of them lowered the helicopter to the ground and shut down the spinning blades. The two mechanics stepped out of their invention, grinning ear to ear.

"How does it look?" Tails smiled, oil and black spots of metal dust covering his sneakers and bits of fur. Ivy pulled off her goggles and pulled out a wrench from a tool belt slung across her waist. Her clothes were also covered in black oil, as she buffed out the dust in her hair.

"This is awesome, guys!" Sonic complimented them, placing his hands on his hips as he admired the chopper. "How did you do this so quickly?"

"You can build anything when you put your mind to it," Ivy beamed. "Plus, with Tails's mechanical genius and my education and extreme IQ, we can do just about anything. I was extra excited about this project, so I asked Tails for help, and with scraps of spare pieces he's found over the past years, we built this beauty." She bonked the side, and informed us, "This ol' baby has some of the best working parts known to us. Twin helicopter blades, a big room center built for comfort, a huge space holding lethal missiles and other pieces of weaponry ready to fire at the click of a button. And it has a battle mode."

"A battle mode?" Bell asked cautiously. In response to her question, Ivy clicked a button on her tool belt and the 'copter morphed from a fast-moving flier to a mech the size of the robot Robotnik had unleashed in our latest fight. "Oh. Right. Battle mode."

The robot was towering at ten times my height (30 ft., people! That's pretty huge to build in under an hour!), enclocked in grey shields with closed doors, probably holding weapons of mass destruction within, and the twin helicopter blades attached onto its back. Pillars of iron and steel combos served as feet and arms, with an almost human-like appearance. Of course, humans don't have metal bodies, are thirty feet tall, and have a large cube on its "shoulders" that serves as a head and control center for the commanders.

"And ya'll built this in under an hour?" Bunnie shielded the sun reflection of the robot with her cowgirl hat.

"Yep," they announced proudly in unison.

"_Sacre bleu!_" Antoine exclaimed under his breath.

"That's insane!" Pansy couldn't help herself not to say something, while Amy and Sally just nodded silently. Ivy giggled, then stopped suddenly. Her face went from jubilant to the point of insanity to worried and scared.

"Well, I hope you like it. Looks like we're going to have to use it. Like, now."

All of us looked in the direction Ivy was looking at and saw a small sparkle of golden light travel down from the sky and stop in front of us, transforming into a humming, dazzling golden ring. The ring was double my height, and from it emerged a red Mobian with green and yellow sneakers with metal-looking Lego blocks on top, purple eyes, sharp points rising from the backs of his gloved hands, and a look on his face that said, _Tick me off, and you're dead, son._

"Guys, we need your help-" He paused a moment, staring at Bell, Pansy, Ivy, and I. His face twisted into a snarl as he lunged at me. I fell into the dirt, the air rushing from my lungs, and watched in horror as he pulled up his fist, ready to punch out my lights. "You! You're going to destroy us all!"


	17. Chapter 17

**No need to fear! Soniccore27's story is headed your way! :D**

**So I hope everyone enjoys, so I won't jabber on since I feel lazy. But here it is!**

* * *

**Chapter 17**

**Knuckles, the Chaotix, and the Island of Chaos**

**Pansy's P.O.V.**

Bluebell beat Knuckles to the punch. Quite literally, actually.

I have to admit, I was really surprised when Bluebell wound up and gave Knuckles a rough uppercut right in the gut. He flipped through the sir, gracefully if you saw it happen, in my opinion, and landed on his head with a loud thunking sound. After everything she'd been through, Bell was still willing to help out her friend, even if it meant hurting a complete stranger. It sounded like something I would do. No, but seriously, it does, doesn't it?

Now, you may be asking yourself how I know Knuckles. Well, it's a bit of a complex, but will soon be explained, don't worry.

"Lea, you alright?" Bell gulped, concerned for her friend and looking a little shocked that she had just punched a complete stranger.

"I'm fine," she coughed, wobbling to her feet. Knuckles mounted to his feet, seething furiously.

"Son of a-"

"Yo! Knux!" Sonic grabbed the echidna's left shoulder to stop him from doing anymore damage. "Chill out, dude! These guys didn't do anything to you."

Knuckles harrumphed, crossing her arms and glaring at Bell. "You got a pretty good hit, kid. Better use it, where we're headed."

"Knuckles, what's going on?" Sally demanded.

He glared at me and the other demigoddesses angrily. _"They_ happened, Your Highness, that's what."

"Gee, thanks, Knucky-boy," I snapped sarcastically. "What do you want this time?"

"You two know each other?" Tails interrupted, staring back and forth at Knux and I.

"I'd prefer it if we didn't, but yes, we do," the red echidna snarled.

"It's a long story, but to summarize: I come to Angel Island looking for traces of a deceased companion's past, Knuckles got tricked by Eggman and thought I was sent to steal the Master Emerald, blah blah blah, we fought, I won, explained everything, and together we saved a Chaos Emerald and I got the traces I wanted. Whee, happy ending." I was very cynical about the whole thing, and our relationship was just about as borderline as you could find. We were rivals, extreme rivals. And very different in multiple ways, whether it was how we ate a certain type of food or how we fought in battle.

Azalea and Bluebell stood there gawking, a look of confusion of extreme proportions on their faces. Considering their lack of Mobian knowledge, the terms "Master Emerald" and "Angel Island", and the Warp Ring in front of them were new and alien to them both.

"OK, I know what Chaos Emeralds are-" Azalea began.

"I don't." Bluebell muttered.

"But what are all those other things you just said?"

"One sec," I stopped her, and locked irritated eyes with Knux. "Seriously, though, why the frick are you here?"

"Because of you, purple, and trust me, I didn't want to end up meeting you here. And I didn't know there were more of your kind." He eyed Ivy and Azalea briefly, and before we could continue arguing, a new voice interrupted us. A feminine one.

"Knuckles, is it safe to come through?"

"Yeah, Julie-Su. Bring in the others, too. You have got to take a look at this."

From the ring emerged seven more familiar faces. A pink echidna in sea-green and black gear with robotic accessories and a two-barrel pistol by her side approached first, followed by a green crocodile in black boots and a gold chain around his neck, with a heavy set of head phones in his ears and a magenta chameleon in ninja clothes and a yellow horn above his amber eyes. A pair of yellow-and-black bees, a boy and girl in brown and orange tops, a red armadillo with blue eyes and red sneakers, and a flying yellow squirrel followed them. I smiled as I recognized those familiar faces. The Chaotix were here.

"Hey guys," I greeted them flatly. Azalea and Bluebell looked at all of the new arrivals with extreme confusion, and the others said their greetings.

"Uh, what just happened?" Bluebell wondered.

"I would say the same thing," the red armadillo replied, sizing up my three friends. "Who are you guys?"

"I-I'm Azalea, and this is Ivy and Bluebell," she stuttered. She looked at Sally pleadingly, and exclaimed, "What the heck is going on?"

"This is the Chaotix," she stated. "A group like us, who fight against Robotnik for freedom."

"And we have a bit of an issue," Julie-Su began. She glared at Knuckles. "And if Knux over here hadn't barreled over one of the pieces of the prophecy we just heard, I'd be able to explain things less awkwardly." He chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head.

"Yeah, sorry about that," he apologized. Azalea brushed the remaining dirt off her shoulder and exhaled.

"It's fine. Lately, I've gotten used to being attacked by things and people I don't know."

I smirked, and Knuckles's head whipped around at me. He began advancing on me, steam practically whistling from his ears and teeth. I held my ground and stared right back at him.

"You don't have the right to make this funny, purple. This is serious business."

"What happened? Were you doing such a poor job of guarding the Master Emerald that it got stolen by Eggman again?" I snapped back. I was on my last nerve with this guy. If it hadn't been for Mighty and Vector restraining him, or Ivy talking me down, we would've killed each other.

"We need your help. And as reluctant I am to say that, we need you to come with us and help." His words were stiff and sounded forced.

"You? Needing me?" This was quite surprising. Whatever was going on with them, Knuckles must've been _insanely_ desperate to ask me for help.

"Not just you. From the Freedom Fighters and the new group."

"He's right," Mighty added. "Some… things have been happening recently."

"Yeah! Like there was that weird message from that ball of light, and the vision he had, and those weird black monsters that have been attacking the island!" Charmy jabbered about their experiences, flying around while explaining. But the only thing I hear that really stuck out was "black monsters".

"What do you mean by monsters?" It seemed to dawn on Ivy and Azalea that they might be a small group of Shade Demons trying to get ahold of the Master Emerald. If that somehow managed to happen, then Mobius could be in huge peril, as would Angel Island, since the whole place was powered by the danged thing.

"S-Scary, bulky masses of b-bad things that wanted to c-capture or k-kill us and s-snatch the M-Master Emerald," Ray stuttered, horrified at the memory.

"That sounds like Shade Demons, alright," Azalea muttered. "But what would they want with a block of emerald?"

"The Master Emerald is a source of seemingly limitless energy," Ivy answered, beginning to pace in worry. "If they managed to capture their prize, then it could mean disaster for the whole planet, and maybe even the universe."

"Right. So that's why we came to you guys, because we've -or Knux -have been having visions of a group that could beat these things. Whatever they are." Vector added.

"And so, when we finally put all the pieces together, we put a strong, defense barrier around the emerald, then came straight here," Saffron finished.

"So you want us to help and get the Emerald back and beat up these demons," Azalea summarized, and they nodded.

"Yes. We will also be needing a separate form of transportation back, since we don't want the demons to find the Warp Ring," Espio murmured.

"How about three?" Tails smiled. "The _Freedom Fighter Special_," (the largest vehicle used for flying owned by the F.F.) "the _Tornado_, and the _Hurricane_."

"The _Hurricane_?" the Chaotix asked.

"It's what we decided to call the helicopter we built for _our_ group transportation," Ivy giggled. "Get the pun there? A hurricane and a tornado?" She winked at us and I groaned, face-palming.

"Well, come on, we got some quick work to do. And 'quick' is my middle name!" Sonic interjected.

And so, after gathering and briefing Maroon and Wendell, introductions, and preparing the vehicles for the mission, we began to formulate a plan.

"OK, so this is what I was thinking," Sally said, using Nicole's portable computer system to boot up a picture of Angel Island. "We have three teams. Team _Special, Tornado, _and _Hurricane._ Two groups will have seven members, while the third will have six."

"Hey, don't count me out!" Bluebell interrupted. "I may not know what's going on, but I bet I can help in some way. I'm a trained soldier!"

"Playing _Halo 4 _for over one thousand hours in total doesn't count, Bell. And besides, this is the real thing. If you die, you won't get to use another life." Azalea's voice became firm, but also worrisome for her best friend.

"Well, you don't either, Lea. And besides, there's gotta be something I can do to help you." Azalea sighed, exasperated, then grumbled, "Fine. But if you die, I'm gonna murder you."

She whooped, and Sally continued. "Anyway, with our _three_ teams of seven, we'll head in at different parts of the island and take down as many threats as we can. We'll need a pilot, leader, flyer, offense, and defense fighters.

"On Team _Special, _we'll have Nicole as pilot, and I'll lead. Mighty will provide as muscle, Ray will be flyer, Julie-Su a long-ranger, and Sonic and Pansy on the front-lines. In Team _Tornado, _Tails will fly, Knuckles will lead, Vector will be the strength, Saffron flyer, Bunnie the long-ranger, and Wendell and Antoine on forward. And finally, Team _Hurricane,_ made of Ivy as the craft-controller, Azalea as leader, Amy with muscle, Charmy with flight, Bluebell as long-ranger, and Espio and Maroon on the fronts. Everyone got it?" There were cries of agreement. "Alright, let's move out!"

* * *

"Nervous?" Sonic asked once we were strapped into safety seats and were steadily approaching the island from the north. I won't describe the rest of the details, but it was pretty boring. Just stuff like deeper instructions, and receiving ear communicators to help reach each other if we needed it.

I shook my head. "This stuff I can handle. I just hate, _hate _water." I glanced down from the nearest window at the sparkling, deadly ocean below me. I shivered in horror. Just to let you all know, I hate water because of nearly died multiple times because of it, and to me, just… ugh. Hate it.

Sonic chuckled. "Heh, don't worry. Before you know it, we'll be back on solid ground."

_You're afraid of water, Pan?_ Ivy asked in my head. I jumped, completely forgetting about Ivy's stupid mind-reading ability.

_Shut up, _I responded, and I heard her laugh.

"Ivy giving you a hard time?" the blue hedgehog questioned me, and I grumbled in response.

"We're approaching the island," Nicole acknowledged us. Sally nodded, and we all looked out the biggest window to see Angel Island, floating proudly among the clouds.

"Sonic, Pansy, you guys are in the clear," Sally informed us, and we unbuckled our seatbelts. Standing up again felt good, and we approached the door-hatch in the back.

The leader smiled. "Go on you two. And good luck!"

Nicole clicked a button, and the hatch dramatically opened downward. The intense, cold wind slammed into us. Angel Island was just under our feet, and something seemed… wrong with it. An extreme force of negativity swam around the floating mass, and I felt a bit dizzy from its strongness.

"Ready?" he yelled over the roar of the airstream.

"Let's find out!" I responded, and together, we jumped out of the craft.

Time seemed to slow as I fell, and the aircurrent made my eyes sting with tears. After ten seconds, we both landed firmly on the ground, and temporary waves of pain rippled throughout my feet. I shook off the soreness and heard someone speak through our ear gear.

"Are Team _Special _fronts in position?" Azalea's voice was clear through the earpiece, as we heard distant chopping of the _Hurricane's _blades.

"Yep, we're here," I responded as Sonic scouted the area for any enemies lurking about.

"Good. Team _Hurricane_ is ready to go. Knuckles, what about you?"

"Ready to get going." His brash tone broke through our ears.

"Alright, go ahead. Rendezvous at the Master Emerald, and we'll save it," Sally ordered, and Sonic and I dashed into the forest ahead.

As we ran, we heard distant whispers all around us. The voices were creepy as hell, and I clenched my fists harder. Adrenaline pounded in my ears and kept me as fast-paced as Sonic, who was going surprisingly slow. I was probably slowing him down, and I noted to myself to work on training for a stronger endurance.

"You're going slower than you normally do," I commented after a silence between us. "And quieter than usual. What's up?"

"Hold up," he said, halting abruptly. I stopped dead in my tracks and he sped around the circle of dirt shaded by trees we were in the middle of.

"What is it?" I asked. Then I heard a low hissing, and I pulled out my staff. Glowing, yellow slits appeared from the bushes, boring into us.

"It's a trap!" Sonic whispered. I swore under my breath, and waited for the lights to spring out and turn into Shade Demons, ready to kill. Surprisingly, they just sat there, unmoving. "Huh?"

I walked over to one of the bushes, and pulled away the branches away swiftly. What I found were two yellow flashlights pointed at the shrubs with a tape recording playing a hissing sound beside it.

"Hey, look! I think I found some-"

I wasn't able to finish speaking as the forest floor opened under our feet abruptly, and we fell into the dark abyss below.

"Ahhh!" we screamed in surprise, and we fell onto the pit-floor below. Hard.

"Oww…" I heard him groan. The pit was completely darkened, so I couldn't see anything.

"Sonic? Where-? Oof!" We collided and fell onto the ground behind us.

"What's going on?" I asked irritated, as I stood back up. Then I crumpled onto the ground loudly, when the negative energy and pressure shot up quickly and sharply.

"Pan!" A torch in the cave lit up ominously, just barely so I could see him by my side. Pain screamed through my head as images of dying Mobians and screaming people raged inside my skull. The visions faded just as fast as they came, and I shuffled onto my feet.

"Are you alright?" Sonic asked worriedly. I nodded, and rubbed the back of my head.

"Yeah. I think so." I looked around and asked, "Where are we?"

"I dunno, but can you get us out of here, since you can control the earth and stuff?"

"I can try, but since we're floating in the sky and aren't on solid ground, I can't guarantee anything." I decided to describe the visions later, and concentrated on the walls of dirt around us. Nothing happened.

"No, I can't do anything."

"Great." Sonic looked above us, but the pit had closed up, leaving us in a room made of dirt…

…Connected to another corridor.

"Look, a way out," Sonic pointed in the direction of the small, flickering light source down the hall. He began towards it, but I managed to stop him.

"Wait," I stopped him. "This is going to be a trap. I know it. I've been in so many situations like this before, and this is always what happens."

"Well, do you have any brighter ideas?"

"Couldn't you just spin-dash us out?" I was desperate, and trying to search for an excuse. Plus, I knew that one of us was going to get ourselves killed.

"I'd run out of air to breathe before we could reach the top."

"The others?"

He clicked his communicator. Nothing. "It's dead. And c'mon, are you scared or something?"

I scowled at him. "No."

"Then let's go. It's gonna get boring down here if we can't find a way out." He again began to jog to the light, and I sighed, annoyed. To me, it was no wonder Sally had difficulties dealing with him. The sad part was about me thinking this, was that Ivy didn't respond. I guessed we really were all alone. I briskly followed him, then heard a gasp from him and the pattering of his feet stopped.

_Oh no… _I thought, then picked up the pace. Once I reached the end of the tunnel, my heart leapt into its throat. In front of Sonic was a picture I thought was only possible to see in the vision I just saw. Bloody bodies and corpses lay at our feet, some moving, others rotting. But the purest horror of it all was the machine in the front center of the room. Tall and laced in cobwebs, with vials of acidic-black liquid inside the huge cylinder, a disaster lay in the center. And I mean, a disaster. He was so misshapen, I couldn't even tell if he was a Mobian or an Overlander anymore. I won't describe the details, so I'll just leave that your imagination.

"What happened here?" Sonic murmured in astonishment. However, I knew this setting all too well. "This machine, it's just like a Roboticizer, except worse."

"A Purifier," I growled, staring at the corpses by my feet and grimacing.

"Purifier?" Sonic gaped.

"They're from our world, Auroropolis. They're the equivalent to Roboticizers here on Mobius. They can do two things: twist things, mutating their very DNA, their mind, and their bodies until they can't remember anything except to kill anything and everything that stands in their way of serving their master. Or they could permanently erase memories and replace them with anything the controller wants."

There was silence as we just stared at the unmoving bodies. Once lively, hopeful innocents had been reduced to dead scraps of body parts and broken dreams. And to think, our main villain, the leader of the Shade Demons, was in charge of this disaster.

_CLANK!_

We whipped around our heads to see a rising, black corpse, moving shakily towards us, groaning. Then, like followers, the other sickly beasts stepped up to their feet. The negative energy increased upward again, but this time, it was so much more powerful. I groaned, and fell to my knees, holding my head. I was trying my hardest not to scream out, but it was too much. My voice rang in the room, and Sonic put himself in a protective stance in front of me. The visions came to me more suddenly now, and I screamed again.

"I guess you were right."

My eyes looked up at him as I tried to fight it. "About what?"

"Things have gone horribly wrong."


	18. Chapter 18

**Good news: Chapter is up! Bad news: Spring break is almost over! NOO!**

**During the break, I was able to write up a future chapter, so I'm a bit ahead of the game. So in case I don't have the time during finals, I can just click on a few keys and put in the new chapter. Note: Depressing things and slight fluff is headed your way. And I have some exciting news at the end of the chapter! (Don't peak ahead, and don't think that for the ones who will, I don't you know who you are!) Let's go!**

* * *

**Chapter 18**

**Saving the Master Emerald and Discoveries**

**Azalea's P.O.V.**

Sitting next to Bluebell after our small conflict earlier was sort of uncomfortable. I didn't mean to sound awkward when I was lecturing her earlier, but I was worried for her safety. And especially after everything that had happened, I wasn't willing to lose as many friends and family members as my new friends had. So we remained in total silence the whole way, as we sat inside the cockpit with Amy and Ivy.

As we approached the south side of the island, we quickly received messages from the other leaders, saying they were ready to go. After a few area checks, Espio, Maroon, and Amy hopped down onto the forest floor and began scavenging the area. Ivy kept the chopper flying steadily in the air, while Bluebell and I prepared our weapons. Maroon had been kind enough to give Bluebell his twin pistols, already loaded with plasma bullets, so she had a way to help, and since Angel Island was directly above the ocean, I could use the water to my advantage.

"Nothing so far," Maroon acknowledged as we saw his small body briskly scouting out the area. "We're going to the rendezvous point."

"Roger that," I responded. I glanced over my shoulder at Charmy who was looking out the window excitedly, when suddenly-

"Hey, I think I found something!" he shouted, pointing to the lefthand side of the helicopter's direction. We peered out the window, and saw a swarm of black demons, with _wings,_ speeding toward us.

"Crud," Ivy muttered, then flipped on some switches. "Hang on, we're gonna be experiencing a bit of turbulence!" The three of us snagged the poles above our heads, as Ivy whipped the craft around, and began firing heavy titanium bullets at the swarm.

"You were saying about this being like _Halo 4?!_" I shouted at Bell over the explosions and screeches from the demons.

"Hey, I'm a teen! We make stupid statements and decisions, because it's what we do best!"

A loud rip echoed from the back-hatch, as a demon leapt out from the air and into the room. Charmy yelled, swiftly moving out of the way and into the overhead pipes to protect himself. And I couldn't blame him. The demon was not only ugly as ever, but came with a set of leathery bat wings. He looked like something that you could only see in Greek mythology, except in real life and ten times scarier.

Bluebell screamed as it clutched her throat and began to pull out of the room with her neck locked in its grip. In a crazy but lucky move, Bell shot one of the pistols from behind her head and the demon screeched, grasping its bleeding neck and falling out of the hole and down into the sea. Breathing madly, Bell leapt away from the door with the pistols at the ready. A mad look gleamed in her eyes as Charmy gently floated down, teasing the falling corpse.

"Yeah, you better run, you icky beast!" he mocked, giving it and the other demons the Japanese raspberry. Apparently, they knew what that meant, because they began following us like fangirls follow a boy band after a concert. I summoned a good amount of my strength, then raised the waves, creating a pillar which drowned them all in one swoop.

"No wonder the call you an Elemental Demigoddess," Bell mumbled in awe, while Charmy flew around, exclaiming, "That was so cool!"

Ivy slowly moved the helicopter to the island, then settled in a field of grass close to the Master Emerald. We departed the craft, and while Ivy put up the security measures, the others met up with us.

"Hey, do any of you know where Sonic and Pansy got to?" Maroon asked breathlessly, holding his chest and gesturing to Bluebell for her to give him his guns back.

"No," Ivy responded, removing the head set from her ears. "I was able to tease Pan about her hydrophobia, but after that, it was like the mental connection was completely cut off."

While Maroon muttered, "Pan has hydrophobia?", the _Tornado _flew into sight, along with the _Special. _Both crafts landed beside us, and its residents came barreling out. Sally seemed the most worried about them, and was sweating slightly.

"Do you know where Pan and Sonic are?"

"We were just discussing that," Espio said, maintaining his scary-calm composure.

At that moment, a spike- an explosion- of dark energy made Ivy and I inhale sharply and nearly crumple. Bell kept me on my feet, and Wendell hugged Ivy softly, keeping her body from hitting the earth.

"They're close. I can feel it," I gasped, and regained myself.

"What was that?" Vector growled. Knuckles winced.

"It's the Emerald. It feels the invaders," he explained shortly, and with that, we began to race against time to save the Emerald from destructive hands.

* * *

**Pansy's P.O.V.**

I focused on my breathing and not the fact we were about to be killed. _In, out. In, out._

"Well, now what?" Sonic grumbled as the catastrophic experiments advanced on us like zombies. The more steps they took, the stronger the pressure became. "I don't think we should kill these things. It's not their fault they ended up like this."

"If worst comes to worst, you gotta do what you gotta do," I warbled, trying to stand on the balls of my feet. My staff suddenly felt like it weighed several hundred tons, as well as the rest of my body. But I refused to succumb to the agony. Not here, not now, not in the presence of one of the world's greatest heroes. I wasn't going to play the damsel-in-distress.

Never again.

My weight juggled from foot to foot as I stood in a fighting position. "C'mon, put 'em up." My words were slurred as tunnel-vision began to take over. Sonic caught me just before I hit the floor, and he hugged me close, protectively.

_Aw, jeez. Awkward moment-before-death for the win, _I thought bitterly as I pushed him away and stood back up. I held out my hand and blocked a punch from one of the nearest mutants, returning the favor with an uppercut to the gut. It fell to the ground in a heap, while another took its gun-attached hand and pistol-whipped me in the back of the head. My headache got worse, and I felt like I was on the edge of dying (I was being a bit melodramatic, but it hurt!). Sonic, though, lifted me bridal-style and leapt high into the air, onto the supporting beams of the room. Our enemies moaned as they stopped underneath us, yelling angrily and attempting to climb up the walls to reach us.

"This should keep us safe for a while," he said. I realized I was blushing, a lot, and he put me down beside him, so we could get a good view of our pursuers below. The energy spikes began lessening, and I was able to strengthen myself a bit more. "You alright?"

"Yeah, I think."

"Wanna see if you can break us outta here?"

I nodded, and closed my eyes. I focused on the earth above us, trying to force it to part and create an escape route. My full effort needed to be put into this, so I blocked out the outer world, hoping Sonic would let me know if the danger increased, and began to channel my energy. I could feel the gravel above us slowly begin to part and create a hole, which began to grow farther and farther upward.

"Hey, you might want to pick up the pace," Sonic warned me. "They're starting to crawl up the wall pipes." He was right; I could hear the hissing and moans get louder as sweat prickled on my face. I followed the earth's path mentally, then felt a bright light pierce the tunnel.

"Got it!" At that precise moment, one of the beasts had reached his hand onto the beam, and began to crawl up. The hole was big enough only one of us, so the plan was for one of us to get out, then find a way to bring the other up to the surface.

Sonic, however, had other ideas. He snatched me off my feet, and leapt as high as he could, making through about half of the tunnel. I closed up the part we passed, making him land on solid ground instead of just falling back down into the room again.

"Soon, we'll be able to save them," Sonic comforted me, seeing the look of horror and pain on my face.

"Hopefully," I whispered. He carefully placed me on my feet, and his quills squished against the wall behind him. My fist clenched as I willed the earth to rise the rest of the way. His quills and my hair dragged against the earth as I focused my spirit in lifting the earth. The distance between us was… uncomfortably close, to say the least, and we reached the surface quite quickly. I closed off the tunnel, and found myself still close to Sonic. We awkwardly stepped back, coughing and rubbing our heads.

"We should get to the Master Emerald," he said, and I nodded. We started off again, more cautious than before to make sure we wouldn't get trapped.

"Sonic!" Tails exclaimed from behind us, and we slowed our pace, letting him and the others catch up to us. He jumped forward and tackled Sonic in a hug.

"Hey little bud," he grinned. The others, panting, ran up beside him.

"What'n the heck happened to ya'll?" Bunnie asked. "All of us were dun worried sick!"

"We were side-tracked by a little surprise," I stated. "I'll spare you the details, but we found out that the Shades have a process that seems to work like your Roboticization. But it's much worse." My voice cracked in horror at what we had seen. Everyone mumbled to each other in fright, and I couldn't blame them. If it wasn't for my insane courage, I'd be just like them. But I wasn't, because I wasn't normal. Sally hugged her arms around Sonic's waist, probably in concern, and I looked away immediately. See? Unnormal point proven.

An all-too familiar harmony of cries echoed in the distance. All of us stopped what we were doing and charged toward it. We stopped at the edge of the forest, looking at a large temple protected by a green shield. Shade Demons gnawed and slashed at it as the light weakened little by little. When our footsteps made rustlings in the earth, though, all activity in order to capture the Emerald stopped as their glowing, yellow eyes lay on us. Roars escaped their fanged mouths, and they charged forward, a mass of over 150 dark spirits.

"Keep track of your teams and get ready!" Sally ordered us as we prepared ourselves. I counted down in my head the approximate time it would take before all hell would break loose. _3, 2, 1…_

"All of you, GET DOWN!"

An unfamiliar, feminine voice shattered our trains of thought as we hit the dirt, like the voice told us to. I watched up from my place on the ground as the Shades were wiped out instantly by an unfamiliar, concentrated airwave and a very familiar green blast. All of us began to rise shakily, but I almost dropped back down to the earth in shock at to who I saw standing on the guarding temple. The girl was a smiling pink bat in a bubblegum-pink mini-dress, with fluffy cotton creating the edges and twin and two bronze fold-out fans in each hand. A bronze-chain necklace hung loosely around her neck, with a pink, swirl charm attached to the front. The guy was a brown fox, wearing a black suit and sleek boots, and a weird green glow radiating from his body. His green eyes scanned us, then settled on me. His tough smirk morphed into a larger-than-life smile. He ran down from the temple guarding the Master Emerald and tackled me into a hug just as the shield disappeared, creating a shower of green light.

_Who is that? _Ivy screamed in my head, but I didn't bother to respond. I hugged him tighter, my eyes brimming with tears. I pushed back from him, fury, surprise and happiness complementing my scattered brain.

"Sweet mother of Mobius, is it really you?"

His smile somehow got even wider. "Yep. Dodge is back from the dead and better than ever, baby!"

"WHAT?!" the Freedom Fighters plus the other E.D. exclaimed. Even the Chaotix looked stunned, even though they had no idea who he was.

"D-Didn't you zay he was dead?" Antoine stuttered, pointing his sword at Dodge, looking like he was about to faint. I nodded like the crazy Mobian I was. "Oh dear. Bunnie, please catch me." He fell backwards in shock and his wife obliged, while the others were freaking out about the scenario. Except for the Chaotix, of course, who had no idea what in the heck was going on.

"Wait, I'm totally lost here," Vector informed us, and the others nodded in agreement.

"Yeah. Who are you and what were you doing guarding the Master Emerald?" Knuckles growled, bumping his fists together. Dodge crossed his arms, annoyed, and rolled his eyes.

"Don't worry. We were just helping you out. I don't know why you should be so aggressive. If it wasn't for us, those demons woulda taken down the Master Emerald. Then, where would we be? In the ocean, sinking and drowning, that's where. So you should be thanking us."

"Thanking-?" Knuckles's head looked like it was about to explode as Julie-Su calmed him down, and the Freedom Fighters began to retain some composure in their minds (mostly Antoine, though, waking up from his unconscious state).

"Huh. So I gather you told some people about me, didn't you?" Dodge smirked.

"I swear, I thought you were gone for good. I didn't know you'd ever come back," I gulped, trying my hardest not to start bawling in front of my teammates. "How'd you do it?"

"I'll explain later. But for now, I think that someone else should be introduced." He gestured to the bat, who glided from the temple and landed softly in the dirt.

"Hello, everyone," she giggled, getting everyone's attention. Her voice was strong and powerful even though she was shorter than me by a couple inches and seemingly sweeter. "Sorry to surprise you all. I'm Alyssum Swirl, daughter of Windabelle Swirl, the Goddess of Air and Friendship. I am pleased to make your acquaintance." She gave a little bow and giggled.

That snapped up our attention real quick. "You're a demigoddess?!" the three of us demigoddesses gasped. The others gaped at her in astonishment and surprise.

"Yep. Thirteen, one of the best fighters I know, and dang proud of it." Her pink eyes twinkled in the sunlight, as she gave another small giggle. Her high-ponytail whistled in the wind, adding a somewhat dramatic effect to her childish pose of inward knees and a peace sign over her right eye. I bet, since she had power over the air as she claimed and proved, she caused the wind to blow at that moment. Her right eye gave a little wink and an aura of cuteness and innocence flowed from her body. I liked her spunk, and social character.

"I met your friend here struggling with some jerks and helped him out," Alyssum explained their encounter. "They said they wanted to steal the Master Emerald that one of 'em could use to go super, or something like that."

Sonic and I met each other's eyes and nodded. "Was one of them a green hedgehog that looked kind of like me, except with blue eyes and a leather jacket?"

"And was the other a female red fox in leather clothes and a yellow bow in her hair?"

"Yeah," Alyssum said, a little taken aback by our sudden guesses. "How do you know-?"

"They're Scourge and Fiona, and they are _not _good people. Do you know where they went?"

"I saw them head into the forest, but that's it."

"And look, here we are."

All of us whipped around to see, speak of the devil, Scourge and Fiona standing side by side, with another army of Shade Demons surrounding them. This crowd seemed bigger, and different somehow. Maybe it was the fact that no painful headaches were being caused, or maybe it was the black-blue gems attached to their heads. Either way, they didn't feel like the others we had fought.

"Hello Sonic. How you doing?" Fiona chuckled sinisterly, blowing him a kiss. My blood boiled at the cheekiness that betrayer was using on her ex.

"You back off him, ya creep," I snarled back, pulling out my staff. She laughed, and wiped tears from her eyes.

"Ha! This is hilarious, purple. Do you have _feelings _for him?" I froze as Scourge and Fiona cackled away, the Shade Demons joining in, and felt everyone's eyes on me. Was she right? Why _was_ I being so touchy lately? My fist clenched as the confused emotions in my brain finally transformed into one thing: Anger. The fact that they humiliated me, and I couldn't be saved from my folks this time*, and Dodge's sudden, crazy return, fueled the rage inside me as I felt all anger inside me release. Again.

Blinded by rage, Fiona's witty evilness dropped into terrified gasps as I delivered a roundhouse kick to her stomach, knocking the army of Shades to the floor, and slamming Scourge against the temple wall. She crumpled as I chuckled. It felt amazing to release from my constricted state and finally unwind my emotions. But, looking behind me and seeing the others there, I regained control and sighed. Then the realization impacted on me like a pile of bricks. By reacting like that, I had just confirmed what they thought were feelings for him. And I had witnesses to say what they had seen. My heart knew better than my mind that what Fiona said was true. Although, my mind was stubborn and wasn't ready to give up a fight so easily.

"Heh, looks like we hit a bit of a nerve, didn't we?" Scourge swaggered, coughing and standing. Fiona joined him, but was knocked down again by a hand, that snatched his throat and lifted him high into the air. I was surprised to see a shadowy hand performing this, springing out of the temple's shadow.

"You have proven yourself, Scourge. Yes, you have indeed. Now, I will send assistance to dispose of this unholy filth. Report back to base." The evil couple ran into the forest and disappeared, but I think that all of us were too shocked by the lady to follow.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Scourge was working for someone? The complete _opposite_ of Sonic was working for someone? And what was with the shadowy hand?

A figure emerged from the shadows, and my friends, confused about what just happened, froze. Hair in a thin mane, like a shiny mirror, flowed down her questionable attire. In fact, the hair on her head was probably the longest thing she was wearing. A thin, black dress as low as her upper-upper thighs and as high as her chest covered her poised body. Her eyes were closed, but the blue-black jewel engraved in her forehead seemed to have a mind of its own as a small black dot whizzed around its space like a gas molecule. Her stilettos clicked together and a large scepter molded from the shadows into her hands.

"Mmm…" she inhaled deeply, leaning over my face. Her eyes opened, revealing a deadly black. "I smell animals…" She turned to my friends and licked her lips. "Ready for eating."

"Wha-?"

She hissed and lifted me up by the neck in an air-choke, using her mind to suffocate me. My eyes watered with tears as she wound the invisible hold tighter and tighter around my throat. I gasped for air, looking over at the others and pleading with my mind to Ivy, _Run… Get out… of here. Whoever this lady is, she seems to be after me. Get the others and get out._

"No dearie," she snickered, and I moved my eyes to look at her. "I'm here for all of you. And once I get my hands on the Master Emerald and Aura Stone, my master will be so pleased."

The pink bat stepped forward, her cuteness and innocence washed away and replaced with a strong aggression. "Don't touch her, Hellia! You do that, you mess with me, and these two!" She gestured to Azalea and Ivy, who toughened their glares and raised their weapons.

"Feh! This one can't even keep her feelings straight, so how much better can you do?"

"A lot better than you ever could," Alyssum growled. I could tell she was deathly scared of this lady, but she was holding her ground pretty well. I would've retorted to this jerk's comment, but I was too busy being strangled to say anything.

"Fine, let's see you do better against this." She raised her hand dramatically and we began hearing a roar. Then it silenced, and suddenly another roar, louder and angrier this time, echoed in the distance of the island. From the nearby clouds emerged a huge battleship of red with swarming robots and Shades. A familiar cackle echoed from the front of the ship. Eggman, no mistaking it.

"Well done, Hellia!" he complimented her, and she bowed to him. The reluctance to serving him was hard to find, even though it was there, but she played it off well. All you needed to do was give the fat man some compliments and some food, and you'd be his friend for life.

"Thank you sir; I hope Master will be just as pleased as you are. Oh, and Pansy says that it isn't hard to please you, that you're almost like a dog in her eyes."

Oh great. Another mind-reader.

"She does, does she?" He seemed embarrassed enough, and I grunted. "Fine, the show her what happens to those who disobey me."

"Right," she said, her invisible grasped released, and replaced with her ice-cold, physical hand. With her other, she clenched her fist, and, like zombies in a cheesy movie, the Purified monsters lifted themselves up from the dirt and created an army, one definitely larger than the ones Sonic and I had seen. She smirked and whispered to Alyssum, "You were saying, my child?"

Alyssum's courage obviously dispersed, replaced with sheer horror. Her face, I assumed, matched the others. The only other faces I could see were Azalea's, Ivy's, and, you guessed it, Sonic's. His eyes were radiating with surprise, anger, concern, and a whole jumble more emotions as his gaze was focused firmly on me. Yeah, I know, cheesy, but what are ya gonna do?

"Would you want to end up like that, my sweet?" she drawled in a sickly-sweet tone. Her fingernails dug into my skin as her ugly smile grew wider by the second. She shook her head, dismissing the thought. "No, it would be too much of a shame to let your life end that quickly. You'd just escape or have your friends rescue you if I held you captive." She grinned (The smile was like something from Earth Azalea called the 'Cheshire Cat'? I dunno, things on Earth weird me out.) a malicious smile, and began walking towards the edge of the island.

"Hmm, I do suppose I've come to a decision." She took out a hidden dagger and slashed it across my throat. I squeaked in pain, biting down on my tongue to keep from screaming. This sucked so much, it was like sucking a lemon left out in a pile of garbage for 30 weeks.

"Let's see who'll save you now," she hissed and dropped me down from the edge, beaten and dying.

* * *

***Please refer to Chapter 7 for further details on Pansy and Azalea meeting and being saved by their moms.**

**Ah, now for the surprise. YOU GUYS GET TO DECIDE WHO IS GOING TO BE INTRODUCED NEXT! That's right, you crazy fans, you get to vote in the comments section, numbers 1-4, to decide who will next be introduced into the story! I already have the future characters in which number will be which, so it is a surprise I will reveal at the end of the next chapter. Only one person per vote please, and may the lucky number win! :D**

**Core is out! Peace, brothers!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Hello all. I have a few important announcements to say before we get started.**

**First off, no one seemed to have voted for the thing I was talking about last chapter. XD Ah, well, can't blame me for trying. **

**(Note: This is a memorial to the recent tragedy sweeping the U.S., so for those who are eager for the story, you may skip this. It would be nice if you read it though.) And getting onto more serious matters, I'm sure all of you have heard about the recent Boston bombing incident that occured this past Monday. It was a terrible tragedy, and my strength goes out to all who were hurt by this event. I hope that all who were a part of this will be OK and I am posting this chapter in memory of the three dead victims and the many who were injured. One of the ones who has passed on was eight years old. My heart hurts for him and his family. Thank you to all who read this little passage, and for now, let's continue with the writing.**

* * *

**Chapter 19**

**Destroyed Foes and Awkward Relationships**

**Pansy's P.O.V.**

If you, the reader, read the last chapter, then you saw what was happening. I was falling to my death, near unconscious from being choked and cut across the throat, yada yada yada. But, it seemed as if the doc and this creepy lady seemed to miss a point here.

The Master Emerald was here. And so was Sonic.

Major design flaw, huh, Eggman?

At the time though, I had no idea about this since I was stuck with the fact that I was falling to my death. I knew I was either gonna bleed to death first, or drown in the ocean below. But I was too exhausted and dizzy to formulate a plan. So I guess I was lucky that Sonic's mind snapped into place by saying, _Hey, ya know what? The Master Emerald is right here, and so am I. Oh! I've got an idea!_

"You were saying about who'll save her?" Sonic bragged after quickly going super. I barely saw the bright golden light of the transformation as I began to blackout, preparing for the end. It wasn't until I felt a warm glow around my body that began to glow brighter that I realized Sonic had saved me. Or, should I say, Super Sonic. He placed his hand on my throat, and the sharp cut healed with ease, as did my power. He winked at me and he lifted me back up to the island. I realized by looking down that I was a few feet above the ocean floor, and how close a call that had just been.

Again, _hated _being the damsel-in-distress.

The demon lady, Hellia, hissed at Super Sonic in rage, while Eggman swore quite loudly. I dropped back onto the floor, giving a murmur of thanks, and the whole group was gawking at Sonic.

"No, impossible!" Eggman cried in rage.

"Bit of a flaw in your plan, huh, Eggman?" Sonic teased, waggling his index finger. Hellia hissed again, and began to surge toward him, but I provided with a little assistance.

"Oh no, you don't," I snarled, slapping her across the face, hard. She growled and wiped at the bruise already forming on her right cheek. The Shade army roared in unison, and at that moment, everything went out of control. It was us versus them. It was a Freedom Fighter group, the guardians of the island, an army of demigoddess freaks with some of their guy friends, and a super god born from Chaos energy against a floating battleship, Purified victims, an army of evil demons, and their leader.

"Forget the groups! I want everyone to take down as many as they can, but if you can, try to follow the leader's orders!" Sally called over the sound of gunshots, punches, and screaming. As I looked around, my first thought was, _Whoa._

Everyone around me was fighting hard, with all the strength they could muster. I saw Ivy retreat from the fight, and soon after heard the blades of a helicopter high above our heads and felt the heat of multiple explosions from missiles as a result. Super Sonic was speeding toward the battle fleet, and Eggman seemed to be panicking. Titanic waves of water, Chaos energy bolts, laser shots from Bunnie's arm cannon, and multiple _PIKO! _sounds echoed in my ears. I saw Alyssum, the new girl, slicing and dicing up demons like a chef at a sushi bar. She looked like she could take care of herself pretty well. The smell of blood and metal burning suffocated my nose, but no one seemed to be horribly injured. Espio jumped out from a tree and narrowly avoided hitting me with his ninja stars. He gave me a look of apology, then gave a nearby demon a high kick to the jaw. Tails was caught by a Purified victim by his two tails, but with a little help from Antoine's sword, he was freed in a matter of seconds. Bluebell had discovered her robotic limbs gave her increased strength, as she lifted up five demons at once, and threw them down into the ocean. Her facial expression was priceless.

After pounding on some Shade freaks and saving Maroon from being pistol-whipped in the back of the head, I came upon Hellia, who was overseeing the whole fight. She seemed a bit disappointed with her falling soldiers. Then her eyes locked with mine and I pushed through the angry crowd, pummeling some more foes as I went.

"You. Me. Bring it, lady," I snapped, advancing on her. I knew I had no chance against this her, since she was able to hold me in a chokehold before I would even know what would be going on. I had to try though, in order to help the others.

Hellia frowned. "You _are_ your mother's daughter, aren't you?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" My fists clenched.

"You two are remarkably stubborn. Plus, the resemblance between you two is stunning."

"Oh, shut up," I growled and threw my hand toward her face again. This time, it went through her face, not inflicting any pain on her. I pulled my fist back, and stared in astonishment. "What the-? How'd you do that?"

"Hmph. You obviously haven't caught up with your enemy studies." She waved her hand through the air, creating a mid-air hieroglyph in the shape of an upside down teardrop. The lines were colored black, and color began to fill in the rest of the picture. "Does the term _Sins of the Aurora Leaders _mean anything to you?"

For not the first time today, I was silent. This was bad; I had no idea what this lady was talking about. However, this lady seemed like the chatty type, so maybe I could get her to spill some beans.

"Gosh, how on Mobius were you able to do that? And who exactly are you anyways?"

"I thought that you were supposed to know everything around here about my master and I. But, I suppose I was incorrect." She cleared her throat, ready to begin and I mentally smiled to myself. This was way too easy.

"Now, in every person, there are emotions. In addition to the positive ones, there are one or more strong negative emotions. This is no exception for your mothers, the goddesses of B.L.O.W.R.A.G.S. Stupid name by the way. Anyways, each of them has one, main negative quality about them, and our master decided to take advantage of this opportunity.

"See, she decided that there should be not just her orchestrating the Dark Aurora Empire. So, after using secret agents and threats against the world of Auroropolis and its regions, she extracted samples of their DNA to create my companions and I, Hellia. Together, we became the exact opposites of the goddesses. We became the perfect, evil replicas, and servants to my master."

"You guys are only replicas though, so you can't be as powerful as the real things, since you're fakes," I smirked. "And that still doesn't explain your magical transparent-trick."

"As you can tell, you low-life weakling, I represent a darker version of blue. So I am the exact opposite of Raina, and control dark waters and irrationalism. Taking this into account, I can shift my molecular structure to avoid getting hit with a physical object."

Wow, I couldn't believe this idiot was falling for this. Not only had I thought that getting this moron to monologue was going to be difficult, but now I had a new power to tell Azalea about. "Okay, um… thanks for the info. I'm gonna get back to the fight now."

I rushed back into the fight, and I watched her facial expression switch from a "Wait, what?" expression to a "Oh, that son of a-" look. She glared at me, then in a whoosh, she disappeared into thin air. After punching out a few more baddies, Dodge stopped a Purified minion from attacking me with a stick from behind.

"Hey there," he yelled over the roars and battle commands. "You okay? I saw you talking to that weird chick over there."

"I just used the monologue trick on her, and found out a bunch of info. She freaking fell for it!" I giggled like a five-year-old on a sugar high. Probably all of the recent shocking events had made me snap.

"Alright. And you know what?" He kneed a Shade in the guts before continuing. "We need to do some catching-up later, too!" He rushed back into the crowd, firing Chaos Spears at other opponents. My smile opened up and, for the first time since we landed on Angel Island. Slowly, the enemies began to dwindle, and no one seemed to have any serious injuries.

I took a break from smashing demons over the head with my diamond staff to take a brief glance up at the battle station. Super Sonic was darting around, taking out multiple guns and yelling in excitement. Then, he suddenly darted into the ship, and that's when I turned my head away. I had an idea of what he was going to do, so I hit the floor, covered the back of my neck, and screamed in my loudest voice to the others, "GET DOWN!"

My ears rang as the ship exploded, scattering flaming bits of metal onto the island and taking out most of the remaining enemies. Ash pillars shot into the air like rocket ships, and a beautiful red, orange, and yellow light flickered into the sky. Explosions, I realized then and there, were beautiful.

Luckily, the others seemed to have gotten my message, and they rose from demon corpses scattering their feet. They rejoiced, staring at the detonation and watched in awe as the beautiful golden glow whisked through the bright reminisce of the ship toward the island.

"Sonic!" Tails cried, spinning in mid-air in circles. Everyone else had their own way of celebrating, whether it was high-fives or flipping in circles. Ivy landed the helicopter, and leapt out of the chopper into Wendell's arms. No one seemed to be too severely injured, but I kept my hurt feelings to myself, 'cause I didn't want to ruin the mood. Sonic landed in the dirt, his Chaos power fading, and the crowd surged toward him, hugging, fist-bumping, and kissing (mainly Amy trying to get her hands around Sonic's neck). His super form vanished, but he was still grinning just as wildly as before.

"I've missed quite a bit, haven't I?" Dodge grinned, popping up behind me using Chaos Control. In surprise, I punched him in the arm, and he grumbled in pain. "Well, that's what I get for being Roboticized and missing two years of your life."

I embraced him tightly, happy to have him back from wherever he was.

"By the way, how did you get back to the way you were?"

"I can't remember, to be completely honest. All I know was that a purple light sucked me up into space, and erased my memory of the events that must've happened while I was up in space."

Gee, did that sound familiar?

Sally called us over so that the whole group could talk. He seemed happy to around all these friends and walked with me over to the crowd. The redhead chipmunk had positioned herself on top of a huge, smoking hunk of metal, and began a short speech.

"Everyone, I hope you all feel proud of yourselves. After battling, winning, and defeating this new plague of villains, we celebrate our victory."

"Here here!" Azalea cried, and the others yelled in response.

"Thanks, Azalea. Now, I gather the Chaotix are going to be staying here, right?"

Knuckles nodded. "Yeah. And thanks for your help. It seems as if some of you have improved a lot since we last met." His eyes narrowed at me, and I bowed cheesily.

"Thank you, Knux. Seems like some of us were also less stubborn then we last met each other." The others broke out in laughter. It felt good to bring some entertainment to our busy, slightly busted-up group.

"OK, guys, settle down. Now, first off, I wanna welcome Dodge and Alyssum to our ranks as the newest members of the new Freedom Fighter group." Dodge saluted to Sally goofily, and Alyssum waved her hand in one of the most feminine waves I think I've ever seen. "Second off, traveling arrangements…"

For the next couple minutes, Sally assigned transportation for the rest of us traveling back to N.M., but I clocked out as she explained. Tension overtook my mind as I faced the troubling question: What was going to happen now, with Sonic and my friendship? I had obviously made it awkward in someway, and I needed to find a way to set things right. For the moment, things between us were still structured. And I needed to rebuild my friendship with Dodge. It had been two freakin' years, for crying out loud, so that meant I had some work to do. Not to mention this newbie girl, who I obviously needed to befriend. She seemed like she had a load of potential.

"Uh, Pan?" Dodge asked, tapping my shoulder. I jumped out of my thinking state to find that the group had dispersed and a couple of the others were staring at me. I chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of my head.

"Heh, sorry 'bout that."

Azalea giggled and guided me into the _Hurricane _and I met up with the other E.D. and the guys. Apparently, the _F.F.S. _was going to take back the girls, while the _Tornado _would take back the guys. I wasn't listening earlier, so I just rolled with it.

After good-byes and departures, we healed wounds as we flew and I explained what the lady had said, and with my magical communicator, managed to explain to the others at the same time.

"Hmm, this sounds bad," Azalea muttered, pacing. "Really bad. But enough of this confusing talk, I'm going to take a nap."

"Ditto. I've had about enough confusion for a day," Bluebell yawned, flopping back in her leather chair.

I agreed with a grunt, and stared out the window, at the shrinking Angel Island and the sucky but pretty ocean. It was a good hour flight, and about halfway through, everyone except Ivy, Alyssum, and I was asleep.

"Hey, I don't think we've been formally introduced," Alyssum smiled. She held out her hand and I took it.

"I'm Pansy, Demigoddess of Earth and Courage."

"Sweet. So you guys do exist."

"Whaddya mean?"

"Well, while I was traveling to Angel Island on, um, business, I started getting weird visions of Hellia and that battle we just fought. I had no idea what to make of them, so I just ignored them."

"They came true, though, didn't they?"

She laughed. "I suppose. I'm glad I found you guys, to make sure I wasn't going cuckoo." She whirled her finger around her huge ear, and I chuckled in response to her silly expression.

"That's always a good thing." After a bit of silence, I decided to ask her some advice. "So, Aly. Can I call you Aly?"

"Sure, my old friends called me that all the time."

Old friends? I decided not to push. "Aly. I'm having some troubles. Boy troubles."

"Yeah, I know."

I paused, shocked. "You do?"

"Ivy explained everything in my head. Isn't that crazy?"

The mongoose seemed to hear because I saw a smirk sneak over her face. I yelled at her mentally, and said gruffly, "Yeah. So crazy."

"Anyways, I need to understand something before I give you any advice. Are you in love with Dodge or Sonic?"

I nearly gagged on my own saliva. I coughed and blushed, surprised by her bluntness. I glanced around to make sure no one was up and nosing in on our talk. "Um…"

"Exactly, this is the problem. Your confused feelings are messing with your brain, and you're making the problem more complex than it is."

My mind was spinning. Maybe she was right. Was she a councilor in a previous life or somethin'? "Well, how do I know which one I like?"

"That's always a good question. I can't exactly give you advice on that, since this is your decision, but just follow your heart. That's what I would do in your situation."

I nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I get your drift. Thank you so much for helping me, even though we just met."

"You're welcome! Besides, it's in my DNA. I can't refuse to help a friend in need, especially when it comes to romance."

"And just to let you know, I'm not usually so mushy."

"I know. Dodge told me that you were one of the toughest Mobians he'd ever met. He told me quite a bit about your adventures and such. Pretty hardcore, I would say."

"Thank you. I think," I replied unsurely. Aly giggled again, and Ivy said, "We're directly over Freedom HQ. I already see the others, and we're good to land."

Aly and I woke up the sleepy others and we landed beside the base, groggily moving out of the chopper.

"So this is the legendary F.F. base," Aly murmured, gliding onto the ground.

"Yep, and as you can see over to the side, that little hut." I pointed over to our home. "This is where the group will be staying."

"Well, all except us," Maroon commented. "Wendell and I have school to get to, so we live over by a Chao garden."

"You guys have Chao here?!" Aly exclaimed. They nodded and she jumped up and down excitedly. Miss Cute-and-Innocent was back. "Awesome! Chao are so cute, with their little wings and babyish body build." She started to blab on and on about the tiny creatures, with Maroon and Wendell watching her, sweat dropping from their heads.

"We can invite you over to the garden sometime…" Wendell perked up, and Aly grinned.

"Really?!"

"Uh, sure."

Aly pumped her fists in the air, even more excited then before. The light breeze around us picked up into a stronger wind, and I calmed Aly down so the air could go back to normal.

After simmering down and finishing the wrapping of bandages on battle wounds, we all decided to try to take a chill pill for the rest of the day. We briefed Aly and Dodge on everything we knew, but while we were talking, a knock on the door disturbed our thoughts. It was Sonic…

_Wanting to talk to me._

Screaming in my head and panicking, I opened up the door, and looked up at him.

"Hey Pan," he muttered awkwardly.

"Hi," I said. _Ah, what do I do?!_

"So, I don't mean to sound blunt or anything but can we talk?"

"Yeah, I think we should." I glanced back at the others, and they gave me assuring gestures. Dodge gave me a smile and nodded his head. And so we headed out to the Great Forest, with Ivy lecturing me along the way. There was a bit of more awkward silence between us as we sat by a small stream in the dense forest.

"So, like I said, we need to, um, talk, I guess," he began awkwardly.

"Yeah. Look, about what Fiona and Scourge said, I don't-"

"Hold on," he cut in, brushing his quills back in tension. "I know what you're going to say. And I know how awkward it is, considering how we've only known each other for such a short time. But, for now, I just wanna stick with being friends, and not screw up our friendship."

I was silent. Was this what I wanted? Would I want to be stuck friend-zone'd? Uggh. This was why I hated relationships. I almost always found some way to mess them up. "I…"

He looked up from a somehow interesting rock and asked, "What?"

I flopped back onto the rock I was sitting on, blushing. "It's nothing."

"No seriously, what?"

"I guess…" Good gods, was I really about to say this? "I guess I was being paranoid with you and Sally, your relationship."

He paused, then started laughing hysterically. _Oh crud, I just made a Freedom Fighter snap like a twig, _was the first thought that popped into my head.

"Is this what this was all about? Pan, Sal and I aren't dating!" He continued cracking up, and now it was my turn to be confused.

"What are you talking about? Weren't you two in a relationship?"

"We were, but not now. So is this why you were acting so awkward around me?" Sonic had calmed down, and was wiping tears from his eyes.

I thought back to all those times I had tried to stay away from them when they were together. Huh. Maybe it was jealousy. I didn't know. All I was thinking was, _He's single. Sonic the hedgehog isn't dating anyone right now. Do I go for it? Or do I leave him?_

_You heard what Aly said, Pansy. Follow your heart, _Ivy responded, and for once, the annoying head-voice was right. I hoped, at least. I climbed down from the rock, and nudged him in the ear.

"Hey. It was pretty dumb, wasn't it?"

This caused him to crack up all over again, and I joined him. My stupidity was an excellent source of tension relief. We laughed and laughed until my sides started to hurt and tears sprung to my eyes.

"Man," I gasped, wiping away the tears and trying to control my breathing. "I'm so glad this was sorted out." I splashed some water on him, and he exclaimed in mock-anger. He cupped some of the fresh water in his hands, and whipped me in the face with it. My hate for water faded as we splashed the stream water back and forth like little kids. After soaking our heads, we fell backward and just spent a couple minutes staring up at the sky.

"It's great to be free, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is."

The two of us just lay there for a moment, staring up at the sky, just listening to the gentleness of mother Mobius. It was nice not to have our lives hanging in the balance for once, or having someone we love dying.

"Can I ask you something?" he asked, sitting back up and placing his hands on the ground. "And can you answer, completely honestly?"

"Of course."

"Are you in love with me?"

My eyes widened as I casually attempted to brush the comment off my shoulders. "In love with you? Please. Not saying you aren't a great guy or anything, but I don't lie in a romantic sort of way." He raised his eyebrows and stared at my rapidly heating face.

"You know, for someone who's spent most of their life on the run, you aren't doing a very good acting job."

I sighed, curling myself into a ball. "That obvious, huh?"

"Yeah, kinda."

I brushed a few bangs out of my face and sighed. "Well, I guess none of us can be good at everything. This includes relationships, I guess."

"Ditto," he agreed, crossing his legs. "I mean, Sally and I, when we had a relationship, we were always a little, I dunno, jumpy? Scared? I guess that's what happens when a mad scientist takes over the globe."

"Mmm." I cringed at the mention of Sally and Sonic stared at me, his eyes gleaming dangerously.

"Wait a sec. Are you… _jealous _of Sal and I?"

"What?" I exclaimed, almost choking on the air was breathing. What on Mobius was he talkin' about? Jealousy?

"Yeah. I mean, whenever I see you see Sal and I communicate in any way, shape, or form, you always cringe or something. So, are ya?"

My face was now heating up more rapidly as I fit together the pieces. He was right. Was I making the right decision with choosing him instead of Dodge?

"Mayb-"

A small ringing echoed in our ears, from the communicators we left behind. I exhaled inwardly as Sonic answered back.

"Hey Sal. What's happening?"

"We need you guys over here. We think that we've discovered the location of another one of the Aura Stones, and maybe, a new demigoddess to recruit to our team."

The two of us leapt to our feet and started to run. A new member already? Man, this day was getting more and more interesting by the second.

"This discussion ain't over, you know," Sonic smirked.

"Unfortunately, I know."

My feet slammed into a vine as we fell, and I yelped in surprise. In the blink of an eye, before I could even assess the moment, Sonic had lifted me into his arms and carried me bridal-style back to the base.

_Oh gods. I gotta make sure things get better real quick, or else I might just doom our friendship, _I thought in melancholy. But now, it was time to get ready for the new mission, whatever it was.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

**Life & Adventure**

**Alyssum's P.O.V.**

"To describe my life in two words of my choice, I would use an adjective and a noun: Utter craziness. And I'm not over-exaggerating. By crazy, I mean crazy. Why was this? Because for most of my life, I was a lab experiment.

"See, my lovely mother, who was known to have supposedly died once I was born (That's what the hospital said, although I knew that there was something fishy about it.) and donated me to a science facility in Overlander country because of my… individuality. To put it nicely, my heartbeat and mind patterns were erratically different than a normal Mobian child's, so they decided to adopt me and figure out what caused my unique health… disabilities. So, after a few months of my birth, the selfish kind refused to give me back to my true kind, and kept me to experiment and raise as their own. A group of about five scientists were put together to help raise me. And I still remember them even to this day. There was Don, my martial arts instructor, Lil, my social manager, Louie, my psychological mentor, Alexian the great athlete and teacher, Mike the tech and science nerd, and Yuki Momo.

"Yuki was my favorite of the group, who provided as a role model in my messed-up life. She took care of everything to make sure I was well clothed, fed, and taught. She was a gracious woman, full of understanding and friendship, willing to talk to me about anything and everything I wanted to discuss. There was Mike who taught me about energy signatures, Lil who helped develop me friendliness and social skills to strangers and folks in need of help, and my martial arts instructor, Don. Yuki though, she was special. She taught me not only about everything she knew about life and the Robotnik Wars, but also taught me humanity, love, and plenty other skills. And for most of my life, I relied on her and her team to defend and help protect me.

"Back then, I was a pure _manichino, _or dummy in Italian, as my psychological supporter Louie might say. Robotnik, of course, had a camera spying on us the entire time, and we didn't even know it. So, he sent robots to exterminate my only known companions. Yuki and Don got out alive, thank goodness. The others though… weren't so lucky. I cried for weeks after that incident.

"The two survivors and I were separated, as I fled our secret base and spent a few months on the run as a wanted fugitive. Those two had escaped, and from what I later heard, were part of the top research team in Station Square. By that time, I had begun my travels back to them. I found the duo, who had just been married and were expecting a child. They did know me, of course, but others weren't so accepting of me. Their memories of me were still within their thoughts as they sent me to Angel Island, in hope of readapting me with my kind and becoming one of my own. At twelve years, I was plopped down onto an unfamiliar place, with only the thoughts of them saying, _You have to find your own way, Alyssum. Although small and delicate, you will grow to tall, weathering heights._

"With only the clothes on my back, my necklace and bracelet, I set off into a small village near Rainbow Valley, and used all the skills the group had taught me to create a place for me. I was there, keeping a low profile from the Chaotix F.F. and others, training and learning secretly. As time passed, I learned about a small school organized by the residents and made my way to the top of the popularity chain as the kind and awe-inspiring cheerleader. That was something to be proud of, since any of the other cheergirls were either extremely catty or ditzy. Then, I discovered the Master Emerald. Once I knew of its existence, visions of my mother began popping up while I was dreaming or while I was even conscious. That's when rumors at the school started, and others started thinking I was insane. I dropped out of school shortly after that, with new knowledge of who not to hang out with. But I was still stuck with so many questions and no answers. _How could kids be so cruel? And why, suddenly, after thirteen years, had my mother taken an interest in me?_

"At the time, I had no idea. But, as time elapsed and more visions came to me, I was finally able to put pieces together. From what I knew, I was part of a group of others who were much like me, irregular in many ways. Demigoddesses, she called them.

"Then, one day, I was peacefully scavenging for food, until I found Dodge in the dirt, trying to fight against a couple of bullies. And with that, my new life began."

I ended on a sorta high note, as the others watched me intently. I had just retold my life story for the bajillionth time, and was getting a bit bored of telling it. I was very open with others, as you could obviously tell by how much I was talking.

"Wow. Just as much to take in as the others' stories," Azalea whistled, leaning back in the leather chair she was sitting in. The group of us, minus Pansy, who was with Sonic, and Bluebell were sitting in a briefing room, listening to what I had to say. The room was nicer than most briefing rooms I had been in, with shiny white walls, a mahogany conference table, and leather swivel chairs.

"I agree. So you are a native to Overland regions?" Ivy thought aloud, tapping her fingers on the table at changing paces.

"Well, I suppose. I was born in a small village in the Great Forest, but I spent most of my life with the scientists."

"Fascinating," the green mongoose murmured. Her emerald eyes glittered thoughtfully as a knock sounded from the closed door.

"Come in," Azalea invited, and Sally walked into the room. "Hey Sally, what's going on?"

"I have something to show you, if you are all finished with briefing," Sally said, motioning us to follow her. We traveled up from the Freedom HQ basement and up a flight of stairs to the top floor, where the other Freedom Fighters were stationed besides a topographical map of Mobius.

"Whoa," Bluebell gawked, moving around the model in admiration. "Who made this?"

"Nicole did, because she has something important to show us," Sally said, pointing to a brightly blinking dot. It was located on the other side of the planet, on a landmass Azalea and Bluebell called on Earth, "Asia". I recognized it as the Dragon Kingdom region, so I had no idea what she was talking about. "We located an energy signature, suspiciously like the Aura Stone, but somehow stronger."

"Something stronger than the Aura Stone?" Ivy asked. "From what we read in the book, there didn't seem to be any objects stronger than those things accept goddesses or demigoddesses."

"Exactly. We think that there is a new member of the team to recruit in this area, somewhere. So we were thinking of investigating the area and seeing if we could find someone for your team."

"Someone else to recruit _already?" _I was astounded. My arrival had just occurred, and now we had to go dart off to the other side of the world to get another crew member.

"Yes. I'll go contact Sonic and Pansy now, to summarize them and figure out who's going and who's staying here to protect the base and city." Sally turned the communicator on again and told the two the news. In about… 15 seconds, the duo had arrived, Sonic carrying Pan bridal-style. I took a mental note to ask how things went as we reexplained all of the things we knew. Sally decided to group us off into teams, one that went to the kingdom and the other that stayed here and kept guard of things here. Sally, Sonic, Tails, the girls, and I were up for getting to the Dragon Kingdom, while the others stayed here to keep protecting the city limits.

"Bell, I'm gonna need you to stay here with the others," Azalea stated calmly. The friends stared at each other, Azalea firmly and Bluebell in disbelief.

"Are you serious?"

"Yes, I am. Look, I don't want you to get in danger from all this. If something were to happen to you, I could never forgive myself."

Bell sighed, and shrugged gloomily. "I guess you're right. I should probably stay and catch up on history here."

Azalea smiled comfortingly. "Cool. Then you can educate me on Mobius's confusing history." The two chuckled, and we spent the rest of the day packing up essentials for an overnight trip to the Dragon Kingdom and the adventures ahead.

* * *

**Mysterious P.O.V.**

Someone was knocking urgently on my door, as the cries of suffering, damned creatures played music in my ears. "Enter."

The sniveling servant, Pandemonium, trudged up to the line in front of my beautiful throne, and bowed. His long black fur flopped over his face as his black, beady eyes faced the floor as if it was more interesting than _moi._

"Mal, I have some bad news."

"What?" I snarled, watching the evil panda intensely. I saw him shiver at my harshness and smiled inwardly.

"Hellia was not able to successfully execute any of the girls."

My fangs clenched together, and watched through Hellia's eyes telepathically, her failure in killing Pansy. How she whisked herself away from the battle using the strong Water Transportation power she possessed, like a coward.

Then again, all of my servants were nothing but angry, possessed cowards.

"Send her in here. I want to show her something," I hissed, python-like. The lowly panda demon hustled away as quiet as he could, but in his head, things were different.

_Oh, that wicked little water witch is going to be so surprised, _he cackled in his head. I rolled my eyes to the ceiling as he sneaked out of the room. The black vines which tangled the door and kept it shut released temporarily, then moved back into place as the door closed behind him. With a clatter, the doors locked themselves shut. A smile curled onto my soft lips, and I mounted from my throne.

Behind me, I saw the black curtains drawn over my beautiful projects. I heard bangs, shuffles, and muted groans from the other side of them. Chuckling softly, I stood to my high-heeled feet and watched Hellia cautiously enter.

"No need to be so uneasy," I whispered, reading her horrified thoughts. "Come forward, and face me."

Her face was to the ground as she shuffled up to my throne, and fell to her knees in a bow. "My Empress-"

SLAP!

The wires that entwined and decorated my seat snaked to life and struck Hellia across the face. I saw oily blood trickle down her face as her eyes moved up to the shaking wires.

"What the hell was that for?" she snarled, but in her eyes, I read her fear.

"You know very well how I hate when you do not look at me when you speak," I replied simply, examining my poisoned fingernails.

She stifled to interrupt, and continued, this time looking directly into my face. "My Empress, the children are much stronger than I thought. Their power is growing by the second, and from what a recent reporter has told me, they are already planning on recruiting their fifth member."

"Where are the others?"

"One is in a secret agency, another in a group of Freedom Fighters, and the last is currently unknown."

"Find the last soon, or else I'll slit your throat before the others."

She gulped and nodded. "Of course." She stood to leave but I stopped her by grabbing her wrist with one of the wires.

"Stop. I have something else to show you."

The wire released and I stood, walking calmly to the curtain with Hellia trailing behind me.

"What is it?" she asked as I lifted my hands to the curtain puller.

"You'll see," I smiled, then yanked on the cord. The eight velvet curtains fell, revealing eight struggling and beautiful women, yanking at high-tech weights attached to their wrists and ankles. Their mouths were hidden behind a gag, as they struggled pitifully. I clicked a button on the cord, sending five hundred thousand volts of dark Aura energy through their bodies. If they could scream, I'd bet my entire empire that they would've.

"I've caught the last two, and they're chained up nicely," I informed Hellia, pointing to a lady dressed in blue and another in purple close to the end of the row. The purple lady's eyes gleamed furiously, and she pulled at the chains. I directed a wave of pain at her, and the goddess crumpled into the metal floor of the tubular chamber. I strode over and bent down, watching her try to stand.

"How does it feel, Laurette, to be chained and forced to watch everything around you change?" I growled. Laurette's eyes filled with anger, and she slammed her fist against the glass. After another heaping of volts, she fell to the floor unconcious.

"You monster!"

My eyes followed the regal voice and landed on Raina's pale but determined face. She had pulled the gag from her mouth, and glared at me. "You won't get away with this."

"I think I already have," I smirked, and, using only my fingers, moved the gag back into her mouth. Hellia looked absolutely astounded that the eight goddesses were captured and being tortured on sight.

"This is amazing," she congratulated me softly, moving up to the goddess of botany. "To think, Selene, Raina, and everyone else is captured in these machines."

"Not only do I get the pleasure of knowing their powers are within my grasp, but they are also powering a little project I'm preparing for those wretched girls," I smiled, staring the Goddess of Air and Friendship right in the eyes. "Robotnik has been so nice to give me the technology he uses to make the F.F.'s robotic doubles, to help me make some copies of the goddesses and their children. I'm sure it will be a smashing success, don't you agree?" Hellia nodded. "Now, I have a favor to ask of you." I whispered the request into Hellia's ear, and her grin widened.

"Of course," she grinned evilly. "I accept your proposition."

Hellia smiled and left the room to prepare for her mission. The eight goddesses were watching this conversation with shocked anticipation, and my grin widened as well.

"What have you done?!" the Goddess of Ice and Prosperity growled, yanking weakly at her chains. I was going to have to tell the guards we needed stronger gags, then kill the one who created these failing items in the first place.

"I've sent my servants out on a very exciting mission. Nothing important."

"Nothing impor-?" The ice goddess thrashed at her bonds. "I swear on our mothers' souls, once my sisters and I free these cages and restore our powers, we'll-"

"You'll what?" I snapped back. "You are never getting your powers back. You will forever be tortured and sucked of your power until your will breaks, and then some more before I dispose of you. Now, be silent and watch the construction of my plans. Oh, and you know, Ms. Olivia, your daughter is going to be attempted to recruited next. And I will make sure that your daughter and her companions are killed on sight." With a snap of my fingers, the curtains shut, and I returned to my throne without a word.

_Ah, it's good to be me._


	21. Chapter 21

**GAH! Sorry I'm late on posting this chapter! I had to speed type this in order to get it out to you guys today. We had a bunch of huge, state-wide tests this past week, so I was too busy studying for those. And I still have more tests to take until school ends. :P I count down the days 'til freedom. ;)**

**Well, enjoy the chapter! And be warned of the romance ahead.**

* * *

**Chapter 21**

**Secrets to Keep**

**Alyssum's P.O.V.**

That night, I slept fairly well. Now that I knew the visions I had had come true, and I now had another crowd of friends, I was able to slumber in peace.

That is, until I heard clattering coming from outside my room.

Cautiously, I stepped out of the room and tip-toed into the nice side kitchen in our hut. Pansy was standing there, supporting her hands on the dining table, head down and body shaking. Whoa.

"No no, that doesn't make any sense," she muttered to herself. She lifted herself up, and was soon pacing back and forth. She held a cup of water in her hand and was careful to make sure it didn't spill as she stepped back and forth. "If I love Sonic, I could be completely straightforward with him, couldn't I? But then I know Dodge so well, so shouldn't I like him? Is he even aware of what's going on in my head? And what about this trip? Will that change anything between Sonic and I?"

She placed the water down on the table and rubbed her head. "Good gods, I'm going to go psycho over this. I sound like one of those hopeless romantics you see in crappy movies. I knew that I shouldn't have said anything to him. Now things are going to be just awkward between us."

"Or you could talk it out with someone who understands," I offered weakly. Pan jumped out of her skin when she heard my voice, and whipped around to stare at me.

"Were you standing there this entire time?"

I bit my lower lip. "Er, kind of. It's hard to sleep with your muttering, pacing, and clattering."

"Oh gods. I'm a mess, aren't I?" she muttered, flopping onto one of the couches. "What the heck am I going to do? What can I do? Where do I go from here? What do I-?" She stopped blabbing, and looked up at me. "Wait, whaddya mean you know what it's like to have things be awkward between friends?"

"Pardon me for answering your question with a question, but do you think I knew all this stuff about friendship just by being wise from the beginning?"

Pan shrugged. "OK, I get that. You had some bad times with previous guy-friends."

"Actually, more like popular-crowd type people at my old high school."

"What are you talking about?" That's right, she hadn't heard me reexplain my life story. Oops.

"Forget it. Anyways, what I'm saying is that uncomfortable relationships only happen when one of the members of the party makes it awkward, by talking about a touchy subject. So, all you have to do is either back-track a bit by just completely ignoring the fact you have a crush on someone and work on trying to win someone else's heart or-" Pan's tired but curious face looked up. "-You can keep pushing at it. And once you can push at it enough, you can finally break by that point and become closer friends. Much closer. And that's all there is to it."

Pan's jaw dropped. "You sure you aren't some sort of psychiatrist? Cuz you sure are sounding like one."

I shrugged. "It's in my DNA. What more can I say?"

"Nice rhyme," Ivy chuckled. I glanced at the shadows and saw Ivy and Azalea standing in the darkness beside the bright lamp.

Pansy sighed. "You guys might as well alert the entire globe now that I have a crush on Sonic the Hedgehog and my old friend, and am having trouble deciding who to keep and who to drop."

Azalea chuckled, hugging herself tightly. "You're lucky you have guys to crush on. I don't think I'll ever find anyone here to love, or else for me, originally being a human, it would be just too awkward."

We all burst out laughing, relieving the tension in the air. Ivy had doubled over in laughter, Pan had flopped onto the floor, and Azalea leaned on the wall to support herself. We all had great laughs, and put in other jokes, which made us laugh more.

"Geez, if I had kids with a Mobian, and the kid had my human DNA, how would that turn out?" Azalea gasped. We were now even more amused. After taking a couple minutes to calm down, we were now more quiet and relaxed than we had been in the last day. I guess demons and monsters can change your average lifestyle.

"You guys aren't gonna say anything about this, are you?" Pansy asked, scowling playfully. Azalea shook her head, and Ivy crossed an X over her heart with her index finger. Pan smiled.

"Alyssum, I can't thank you enough for all the advice you've given me," Pansy thanked me after Ivy and Azalea had left us with some peace.

"Hey, it's no prob'," I smiled, and stood up. I punched her lightly on the arm, saying "Go get some shut-eye and give yourself some peace."

"Fine," she chuckled. I began to leave, but Pan stopped me with a question.

"What happens if he rejects me?"

The corners of my mouth lifted and I turned. "If in the somehow unlikely scenario Sonic doesn't like you, you have a back-up plan, don't you?"

She nodded. "G'night, Alyssum."

"Good luck, love-bird."

* * *

**Pansy's P.O.V.**

Never have I ever dreamt in a million years I'd be in the scenario I was in.

Which was, to put in simple terms, falling to my supposed doom after being knocked over by a group of winged Shades. Oh, and Sonic was falling after me to try and save me.

As you can obviously tell, I've had a lot of "falling-to-my-death" moments lately.

"Sonic! You freakin' idiot! What are you doing here? You'll get yourself killed!"

"Pan, you seriously think that the hero of this adventure would let one of his friends just die without a fight?" He winked at me, and I would've rolled my eyes if the cold air whipping against them as we fell toward the ocean to die a watery death. I could sense demons cackling at us, and I felt unable to do anything as we fell. My powers were weakened by the hit I had taken to my head, making my brain fuzzy. But I refused to drift away, and focused instead on yelling at Sonic for his stupid stunt to give my brain something to do.

"No, but at least if only one of us dies, then the other can still live to fight and die another day!"

His grin slipped off his face momentarily as he looked down, then back up at me, snickering. I froze. "What's so funny?"

Before he could respond, we impacted the water hard and the saltwater filled my eyes and nose in a rush. My head spun even more as I felt myself begin to lose consciousness. Then, the shocker all you mushy-gushy people have been waiting for:

Sonic leaned over and kissed me straight on the lips. Without warning.

Oh, and to add some dramatic flair, did I mention we were going to _die?!_

Everything in my body froze as I felt his lips against mine, soft, warm, and gentle. I felt my cheeks grow hot from embarrassment and lack of oxygen. Mostly oxygen, though. Suddenly, he began to breathe into me, like he was performing CPR.

Um… WTH?

Then my brain finally got to work, and I understood what he was trying to do. He was trying to circulate oxygen back and forth in between us. But, that would mean we'd have to…

Stay in a major lip-lock. Me stay in a make-out session with Sonic as we sunk to our doom. Whoo, boy.

Well, if it's about survival, then why not?

So, as we sank deeper into the depths of the ocean, praying to be rescued, we continued moving the oxygen into each other's lungs as the air supply slowly began to run dry. As the last breath left us, I leaned into him and squeezed my eyes shut, ready for the end.

* * *

"Uh, Pansy? Are you alright?"

I groaned as I sat up, seeing Azalea and Aly staring at me. So that was a dream. Of course.

Gods, I needed help.

"Yeah, I'm fine. So, when do we head to Dragon Kingdom?"

Azalea chuckled nervously. "Actually, the others are already there. They're just waiting for us."

I shot up in a flash. "Why didn't you say so?!" I shouted over my shoulder as I headed for the shower.

"Nicole, can you please get her some clothes she can dress into once she's out of her PJ's?" I heard Azalea ask the nanite lynx as I stripped off all my sleepwear and took a hot, one-minute shower. Once I left the shower and dried off, I found a short-sleeved lavender shirt and jean shorts waiting for me.

I pulled them on, and took care of my morning routine in under 30 seconds, packing the necessities as I went in a plastic bag. I darted out of the bathroom, and quickly packed five changes of clothes at random and my toiletries in a singular purple duffel bag I found on my bed.

"Thanks Nicole. See you soon!" I called over my shoulder as I tied up my sneakers, positioned my cap, and left the hut. In the distance, Azalea and Alyssum were running towards New Mobotropolis, signaling for me follow. I smirked and quickly darted after them in a flurry of purple.

"What's the plan?" I asked as we ran into N.M. and avoided civilians as we rushed to the N.M. International Airport.

"The flight, if all is well, should take about eighteen hours at least," Azalea responded as she narrowly avoided colliding into a group of high schoolers.

_Eighteen hours of no ground? And we're over the ocean? Uh, how's that gonna work for me? _I thought bitterly.

_Oh please, Pansy. Stop complaining,_ Ivy said in my head. We had slowed down and were beginning to head to security when familiar voices stopped us.

"Hey!" Sally cried, signaling us over. We looked to our right and saw Sally, Ivy, and Bunnie waving us over. The three of us headed to them and saw them dressed in uniform, prepped to go.

"Ya'll ready?" Bunnie smiled, pulling her cowgirl hat into position.

"As ready as we'll ever be," Azalea smiled, and Ivy grinned, taking her by the arm.

"Good. Tails and I loaded all the stuff, except for Pansy's. Now then, who's ready to get this party started?"

While they chatted earnestly, I realized something I should've thought of earlier: Since Sonic and Sally were going on this trip, what the heck was I going to do?

My stomach dropped like one of the many rocks I'd thrown into a nearby puddle. I guess I hadn't thought about that one.

And, as we left the cool building out into the open runways, there was the rest of the gang, relaxing and chatting with one another. Maroon, Wendell, and Dodge had seemed to come here to see us off, which was quite sweet.

Then I spotted Sonic, who was chatting teasingly at Antoine. The image of him and I kissing underwater flashed through my head, but I slapped it away like a mosquito as things began to quiet down. I packed up my bag inside the_ Hurricane _and all of us said our good-byes. After the messages of good wishes, the small group of us launched off into the sky in the chopper, with Ivy and Tails leading the way, and we started the long air trek to the Dragon Kingdom.

Once we'd made through a good three hours of low chatting, Sally had pulled out Nicole's portable computer and was pulling up a projected map of where we were headed to stay, Stormtop Village.

"Last night, I talked to the elder of the village, Li Yuen, and he said he had a nice place for us to stay. So, once we finish adjusting to the time zone after a day, we'll go around the town and find information and clues to see who the next demigoddess is," Sally said, pointing at various locations on the map. I was trying to pay attention, but I was just so… off. Off in my own world, my own little fantasy. Aly's advice rung through my head like a gong, over and over. Gah.

And then we got to the coast of the colossal continent. The landmass was a combination of what you humans call "Europe" and "Asia" muddled together and divided among the Mobians and Overlanders. The actual residents, though, call it Yurashia. Well, at least the name combo makes sense.

Anyways, I looked down from our helicopter window, ready to just about leap out of the chopper and kiss the solid ground. If my friends had any idea how to get away from the water as quick as physically possible, I was game.

"We're approaching the village, guys," Ivy warned, turning on a seatbelt sign installed above us. The group of us took our places as we slowly began to descend into the village, ready to land…

…Which we would've done if robotic missiles were being aimed at us.

"Whoa!" Tails cried, and the helicopter was slammed right in the blades by an explosive. The entire machine rattled, and the copter collapsed onto a burned grass patch with a loud slam. All of us were jolted upward and landed hard on our butts. Good thing for safety, huh?

"Guys, we got company!" Azalea and Sally yelled in unison, glancing out the helicopter window. A large army of angry-looking robots marched from the city right towards us.

"Yes, of course, something just has to go wrong," I muttered, yanking at my seatbelt and ripping it from its hinges. Oops. I helped out Aly, who was struggling with her belt, and yanked hers out, too. All of us managed to get out uninjured, except for a couple of bruises. Once we got outside, though, it was a completely different story.

In what was the eastern border of the town, chaos was wreaking. Mobians were scattering in multiple directions blindly. Yellow-and-red robots with blue visors were capturing some of the terrified citizens and trapping them inside a large steel capsule, with a huge red button placed on top as an emergency-release button. My hands clenched as I saw the havoc these robots were wreaking on these innocent civilians. These people did nothing wrong; they were probably some of the most peaceful residents on Mobius.

"Everyone, band into groups!" Sally shouted over the chaos as the three girls and I transformed. We placed our tiaras on top of our heads after our colorful transformation, pulled out our weapons, and dashed into the crowd.

"Pansy, take care of the ones in front! Aly, go comfort the free residents and get them to a safe haven! Ivy, find a weakness to these robot things!" Azalea began barking out orders to the rest of us, and I happily obliged to mine. I blocked out the screams and whirring of mechanical limbs, looking at only my opponents. There was only a small squad of them, which was a good thing. I summoned the earth and brought up a huge boulder, and lifted it into my bare hands. Then, I threw it as hard as I could and the enemies were squashed under the weight of the rock. I always fancied a little game of bowling.

"Pansy!" Azalea yelled, and I saw her knock away a 'bot with a mini tsunami. She pointed at a tall building in the distance, and ordered, "I just heard that there are a bunch of civilians they have cornered in the temple over there! Go help them!"

"You got it!" I shouted, using the robots as stepping stones as I leapt into the air and stomped on a few more droids. I ran to the temple hard and fast, staring around at the wreckage. Buildings were burning and ash filled the sky. An eerie silence was filling my ears and giving me the creeps. The only things that still seemed to be unharmed were the beautiful sakura trees, which were blossoming golden and red leaves. I paused a moment from dashing and kneeled down to see a beautiful silk dollie of a pink hedgehog in a blue kimono. Black buttons were sewn into the eyes, and they seemed to stare back at me with hope. I clutched the doll tight in my hands and continued to run. I held the doll close to my heart as I approached the temple.

Screams and murmurs echoed from inside the temple, as did the familiar mechanical whirring sounds. My fists balled up, and I briskly shoved the doll under a pile of autumn leaves. I felt a strong attachment to this doll, and felt it should be given back to its proper owner.

I stared up at a large hole on the top of the roof. It was three stories high, but I stowed away my staff and began to ascend. The brick and curled-up roofs allowed easier access to the top, and I moved as fast as I could without falling so I could approach the scene unseen. Once I reached the top, I peered down and saw a group of Mobians cornered in a tight corner of the one room. Candles flickered weakly among a few spots, which I assumed were specified for praying, giving some light to this horrible scene.

"You monsters! You must not discreet this room with violence!" an older lion shouted furiously, pointing his wooden cane at them. His blue robes were scorched and burned, but he still looked mad as heck. "It is a sacred part of our town's history!"

"Silence, fool," a robot stated unemotionally, lifting an arm cannon. I heard the bullet click into place, aimed at the elder. I slipped down from the hole in the roof, and fell silently down to the unfolding scene.

_Blam! _The gunshot pierced the room's deadly silence, and I deflected the bullet with my diamond staff. As swiftly as I protected the villagers, I darted over to the threesome and quickly deactivated them with a slash of my staff to their main circuits, located in their backs. They fell silently and stopped all movements. The hostages erupted in cheerfulness, rushing to me and thanking me in English and in a separate tongue.

"Are you one of the ones we asked for help?" a red fox in traditional purple clothing asked. I nodded with a smirk, and excited whispers filled the crowd.

"You're one of the Freedom Fighters on that new team?" another asked.

"Yep."

More whispers.

"What happened here?" Sally gasped, rushing into the room with the rest of the group. They looked a little scraped up, but nothing life-threatening. I noticed that Alyssum was unusually quiet though, which was completely out of the norm for her. While the previous hostages shared their info on the attack, I stared at Alyssum.

"Are you alright?" I asked. Her face was unusually pale, and she nodded grimly.

"Yes, but I just saw someone I shouldn't have seen," she gulped, fidgeting with her folding-fans. Something made my ears perk, and I whipped around to see only the wall of the room in front of us. Aly swallowed and nodded her head.

"It was… like that." The two of us gently approached the place where we heard the sound. Luckily, the others seemed not to have noticed us. I stared at the space, then saw a flicker of something shiny and black.

Was that a cloak?

"Back off, if you know what's best for you," a deep voice whispered softly. We jumped, and saw a pair of luminous grey eyes peer from behind a shadowed mask. A shine of a long blade caught my eye, and I saw the mysterious person unsheathe his long samurai sword. My brow furrowed.

"Who are you?"

"I'd be asking you the same thing, _kodomo._"

I stepped back. _What the heck does _kodomo_ mean_? I thought.

_Why do you ask me? I don't know their language, _Ivy responded, sounding a bit confused in my head. The murmurs from our friends and the residents had died down, and Aly and I noticed everyone was staring at us.

"Stay out of my way, and I'll stay out of yours," the soldier murmured. And, with a swipe of his cape, he was gone.

"Whoa," Aly gasped as the rest of the group approached us. Is this what she was talking about?

"Pansy, Alyssum, what's going on?" Azalea questioned us. Whispers stirred up among the hostages, and one of them offered up, "Was it the Cloaked Ninja?"

"Ah, _hai! Hai!" _more voices agreed, and I looked to the townspeople in confusion.

"The Cloaked Ninja?"

The red fox who talked to me earlier walked up to the Freedom Fighters and I. "Yes. The Cloaked Ninja is a secretive protector of our village. Everyone in town adores him, as well as his partner, the Snow Mistress. No one knows who they are, what their secret identity is, or how they became who they are. But they protect us from thieves and attacks such as the one that has just occurred. This is the first time that they haven't shown up to help protect us. It's awfully strange, the whole idea of these two partners in crime."

The older lion stepped to the fox's side. "Agreed. They actually haven't appeared for some time now, ever since our town received the info on your forming." He gestured at my friends and I, the demigoddesses. We looked at each other. A girl who controlled the element of snow? That definitely sounded a bit familiar.

Ivy said confidently, "I think we know who one of them is."

* * *

**'Kay, one more thing before I let you off. The new character's name is Snowlily, which is a flower I created for the this story (not the herb from the game _World of Warcraft, _which I do not own). And her P.O.V. will be in the next chapter.**

**Don't worry, I'm done blabbing. See ya! **


	22. Chapter 22

**Hello all! A quick update on the story for all you Sonic fans!**

**Recently, I watched the last movie of the _Harry Potter _movies (Just as good the 50th time!). And I realized, I should probably use the elements I have in my story to come up with a killer plot twist. So I will work on that. Anyway, have fun!**

* * *

**Chapter 22**

_**HIDDEN**_

**Snowlily's P.O.V.**

My eyes flickered closed as I sat on the soft rice mat with crossed legs and folded hands. I prayed to the gods for all who were injured in today's fight to be protected, and for the protection of my best friend, who was still out wandering in the night. My other friend hadn't talked for a long while, so we sat there silently.

After finishing my prayer, I stood to my slippered feet and brushed down my long white kimono. I folded my hands, and murmured, "Ken-san, I believe he is in trouble."

Monkey Khan stopped his low prayers and stood to his feet as well. "What makes you say that?"

"He hasn't contacted either of us in four hours, hasn't he?" I mumbled in worry. My hands unbound from their folded state and I nervously began to brush my long sleeves. He smiled softly, and looked out our unbroken window.

"Don't worry. I'm sure wherever he is, he is fine," Khan assured me. I stared out the window, then saw the slightest flicker of movement from the front porch of the home.

"Wisp!" I gasped, seeing him walk into the room smoothly. He closed the door softly behind him, and removed his ninja mask. Underneath was his tired face, worn from sneaking around and hiding. Also, I noticed, was the way his mouth was twitching; a reflex he only did when something went wrong. My flicker of hope at his arrival faded, and the two of us hurriedly dashed to him. Something was terribly wrong.

"_Gomen_," he apologized, looking down at his black boots. His rabbit ears hung against his face, and his sleek black fur shimmered in the flicker of candles from the praying room. "I have failed to keep myself hidden."

My heart stopped. I kept my jaw from dropping and stood up tall, inhaling a huge amount of air. Then I exhaled. "What happened?" I asked warily, realizing how disastrous this could be. If our identities were to be revealed, it could mean losing everything.

Wisp muttered weakly, "I was seen by the demigoddesses, the ones who were said to come here."

Now I was in sheer panic. Ken stared at Wisp, and I felt a bit faint. I sat down beside him on the living room couch, and all thoughts of peace for the ones who had suffered were dismissed.

"Do you know which ones you were seen by?" I asked, drawing down the curtains to the entering-room window.

"I was seen by a purple fox and a pink bat," Wisp said, referring to what he had seen. "The purple fox was about fifteen, wearing a purple, puffy-sleeved dress and mountain-shaped amulet. She was holding a bo-staff made of Mobian diamond. The pink bat was about thirteen in a pink dress holding two, twin, bronze folding-fans and also wearing an amulet. The amulet was in the shape f a wind swirl."

"Anyone else?"

He shook his head. "I don't think so. But I did hear Li Moon's and Li Yuen's voices."

I covered my mouth. I had been friends with Li Moon for years and if she discovered my true identity, it would break her heart and put her in a massive amount of danger. Knowing I was a thief and a warrior who defended Stormtop Village might prove to0 much for the villagers to take in. And I couldn't go and turn myself in, or else I'd be forced into a horrible dungeon. Forever. I shook my head silently, and leaned against a wall.

"I have an idea," Ken offered, pulling on his Power Ring crown and blue and red robes. "If you can somehow become allies of the Freedom Fighters, maybe they can help you both defend yourselves at court when you turn yourselves in."

"What do you mean, when we turn ourselves in?" Wisp was on his feet, loosening his samurai-sword belt.

"If you don't offer up your mistakes and let the gods be judges, won't it be against your religious practices?"

Wisp and I took a glance at each other. That was true; the gods of the Aurorian lands would not take kindly to not trying to maintain peace in our hometown, especially since we had previously stolen goods, which did not maintain peace. Causing gossip among the residents about us had lasted too long as well. The people would never be at peace if we never revealed our identities.

Ken stared silently at us, watching our minds work. I walked away from the two, and headed to a wall of the room.

"Fine. I will head to the groups tonight, to see what they exactly are planning to do. But for now, we should give them a little more peace…" I pulled out my outfit from a wooden drawer and stared at the mask. "…before the storm."

**(insert line here)**

**Alyssum's P.O.V.**

After the fight and after all the robots were put out of commission- permanently- we spent the rest of the day cleaning up the rubble of the village. Tails and Ivy managed to fix the chopper and get it above ground so they could do surveillance checks for any damage. I was able to comfort the people while sweeping away clouds of ash away from the village so the air would stay healthy and clean. Azalea generated clouds and rain to put out the remaining fires, while Pansy and Sonic freed the civilians from the metal capsules. Sally began to talk to residents to receive info on the sudden attack. They didn't have any useful information, only that it was a very unexpected attack.

"Alright, I think that's everything," Pansy whistled, plopping down a stone bridge over the river that ran through the settlement.

"We can't thank you enough for all you have done," Li Yuen smiled, bowing in respect.

"Yes, I agree with Grandfather," Li Moon added, following his show of respect. I took a side-glance at Tails and saw him blushing. I smiled at the kitsune. Looked to me like someone had a crush.

"It's no trouble," Sally assured them, but Li Yuen shook his head.

"No, we have to find a way to show our gratitude to you. So, will you all please join us at our house? You may stay there until you have completed any mission or task you need to do."

My eyes brightened, and I looked eagerly at Pansy. She gave me an exhausted smile, wiping dirt off her dress and sweat off her brow.

"I think we'll take you up on the offer, sir," Sally responded, and the rest of us silently cheered. The other girls and I quickly transformed back to our regular clothes and the grandfather and granddaughter guided us to their home.

Like the rest of the buildings in Stormtop, the house was made of red brick rooftops and white plywood walls, with square, clear windows and doors made of wood. Inside, as well, the floorboards and tables were made of wood. Colorful plants, pottery, and cupboards decorated the floors and walls, as well as the ink Yurasian characters written on posters covering the dining room. It was very different from anywhere else I had been, but I loved the unique sense of culture.

"Sweet place," Sonic commented, looking around at everything.

Ivy nodded in agreement. "Yeah, this is beautiful. Wow, look at this character!" She pointed to one of the characters above a statue of a dragon. "What does this mean?"

"In our language, Chinese, it's _long, _or 'dragon'," Li Yuen told her. "Because, years ago, dragons flourished in these lands. They designed the geography of this nation through warfare. Unfortunatly, the entire species almost died out fighting. So, a legendary dragon that controlled the element of snow, disbanded the dragon armies so they could travel, and allowed Mobians to migrate here. The price for settling, though, was that every 100 years, the winter of that chosen year would be incredibly harsh, so the dragon could release the magical power inside of him that was stored up for that century. As well as creating a harsher time of year, he also lives within a resident of this village, and can assist him or her in a chance of need. The dragon will permanently remain within the host until he or she passes on. The dragon is called the Snow-Drift Dragon."

"Whoa, that's really cool," Azalea gawked. "A dragon could be living inside of you? That's awesome."

The elder chuckled softly. Then he told Li Moon, "Will you please show them around our home and to their rooms?"

Li Moon nodded, then gestured for us to follow. By now, it was nighttime and she had to light a lantern so we could mover around easily. As we went around to our rooms, she used the lantern's fire to light other lanterns hanging around as well. We saw the boys' and girls' dorm, the praying room, a few restrooms, and the study.

"Out here, we have the garden," she continued, opening the back door of the house. We looked upward in astonishment at the beauty of the sky, with a clear, white moon and sparkling stars against the navy-blue. The moonlight reflected off the center pool, which was covered on the surface with lotus and cherry blossoms. Arrays of beautiful flowers grew wildly against the metal canopies like grapevines. The sweet scent of flora filled my nose as we drifted around the garden.

"This is so stunning," Sally whispered. I think that that counted for all of us as we stared at all the vegetation. I could tell Ivy was especially pleased, since she was most comfortable around plants. Sally touched the petal of a flower I didn't know. "What flower is this?"

The tiny shrub was coated with pure white flowers. They had three open petals and a gray stigma in the center, a drop of dew falling onto one of the blooms. To Sally's surprise, though, the drop of dew immediately solidified into bright ice. She jumped back suddenly. Li Moon giggled.

"I gather you've never seen a snowlily before."

"What's a snowlily?" Tails asked, flying over to us. He stared at the blossom with interest, watching the frozen dew drop off and shatter into small flecks against the ground.

"Snowlilies are small types of vegetation that only grow here in the Stormtop Village. They are used as herbs to cure fevers and provide a sweet nectar that is used in many beverages here." She pulled off a blossom and handed it to me. "Here. Try some."

I nodded in thanks and tilted the flower up to my mouth. A white liquid of honey-like texture exploded with flavor all over my tongue. It had the combination of a tangy blackberry and a drop of honey. It was delicious, and left a cooling sensation on my tongue.

"Wow! This is really yummy!" I said, watching the blossom drip nectar down the colorful petals. Everyone watched in surprised amazement as the flower shriveled up into dust and flew away into the night.

"See? Aren't they amazing?" Li Moon said.

"Fascinating," Ivy murmured as I fingered away the remaining flower pollen on my hand. The sound of the back door opening made us all jump in surprise, and Li Yuen was standing on his cane in the doorway.

"Dinner is ready," he told us. He left the door open and headed back inside, the rest of us following him. I heard my stomach rumble and I smiled to myself. When I came into the room, smells of well-cooked meat and vegetables hit us full-force. Chopsticks and cups of tea sat besides bowls of meat dumplings and vegetable-topped rice. It all looked super appetizing, especially since I was so hungry after a day of vigorous labor.

After washing up, we all sat down on the fluffy mats laid out in front of us, and Li Yuen led the prayers for our food. "May the gods bless this food on our table. We thank the men, women, and children who worked to serve this food which we have prepared tonight. We are thankful for this roof over our heads, our health, and this meal." He paused, and nodded his head to let us know we could begin eating. We dove into the meal and began to eat up the dinner. I was sitting in between Pansy and Azalea, who were chowing down like nobody's business.

"You gotta give me the recipe for these dumplings soon, Mr. Li," Ivy said in between mouthfuls.

"Yeah, this is awesome," Sonic added, who was using the chopsticks as fast as he could to eat (which is pretty dang fast considering he is who he is).

"I'm glad you like it," Li Moon grinned, holding the pot of tea in her hands. She walked over to Tails and began refilling his cup.

"Oh! Um, thank you, Li Moon. I appreciate it," Tails mumbled, blushing a bit. Sonic grinned at his little bro, and Tails gave him a weak, whisper-of-a-smile back. A knock on the front door jolted us from our merry state back to paranoia.

"Who could that be at this hour?" Sally wondered as Li Yuen moved slowly to the door. I glanced at Ivy, who looked at her handy wristwatch (which she had adjusted to this time zone) and showed it to the rest of us. It was about ten o'clock here, after a robot attack. We rose from our seats when we heard the door creak open.

"Why, Ms. Tu! What on Mobius are you doing here? Come in, come in!" he exclaimed. Li Moon's eyes brightened and she swept out of the room. We followed her and saw her tackle-hug a shadowed figure.

"Yukiyuri! _Ni hao," _Li Moon exclaimed, hugging the shadowy figure.

"Hello, Li Moon," the figure spoke. The voice was an older teen's, older, calm and mature. Approaching from the shadows was a white rabbit about Sonic's height, with two pairs of chopsticks holding up a huge white dumpling-style 'do. She was clothed in long, white robes made of silk and coated with designs of golden snowflakes, with a thick ribbon tied around her waist. Her eyes were a misty shade of grey, eyes that could seem to penetrate you and see into your soul. She was lean and skinny, but with an air of calm strength around her. Her fur was shiny and sleek, and her eyes flicked around to observe all of us. Her frown morphed into a soft smile, and she bowed.

"I gather you are staying at Mr. Li and Li Moon's house tonight, hm?"

"Yes, we are," Sally answered quietly. We were all a little intimidated by this person's presence. "Who are you?"

"Ah! Of course. Forgive my manners. I am Snowlily Tu, of Stormtop Village. It is an honor to meet you."

Li Yuen put a hand on her shoulder. "Snowlily immigrated here to seek refuge after the Robotnik War began. She says she doesn't like to fight."

The rabbit shook her head. "Yes, I try to avoid as much physical conflict as possible. So you can see why I moved here. It's much more peaceful." She turned to Li Yuen, and said, "I'm sorry for coming here so late. But, I must get to your praying shrine as fast as possible. It's an emergency."

"Go ahead," Li Yuen frowned, his brow furrowing. "What for, though? And why at this hour?"

"I must speak with the legendary dragon," she quipped, stepping past Li Yuen. He stared at her in curiosity, but said nothing as she stepped quickly away. She rushed toward the door, and Pansy and I followed her.

"You mean like the seasonal dragon? The one that creates extreme seasons?" I questioned, following her.

"That is the one, yes," she responded shortly, easily navigating the home to the backyard. We brushed past the front of the garden until we arrived at a stone statue of a dragon in the back of the plant home.

"Lady, I don't know who you are, but we need to know what you're doing here," Pansy interrupted in a brisk tone.

The white rabbit turned on heel and stared at Pansy with stormy eyes. "Are you saying that you don't trust me?"

"I'm making sure you aren't a secret agent to Robotnik, considering that out-of-the-blue attack we just had," Pan said, stepping forward a bit. Snowlily frowned and moved back to the shrine, muttering, "I don't have time for this."

"Well, if you say you aren't a spy, go ahead and do your little ritual right in front of us," Pan snapped smugly. Her arms crossed over her chest and I watched the rabbit's reaction. Snowlily sighed in exasperation, and muttered a few choice words as she lifted her hand up to the shrine. Her ungloved hand traced a Chinese character over the background of the stone dragon.

"Please grant access to speak with the Great Snow-Drift Dragon," Snowlily whispered. Nothing happened.

"Hm, this oughta be good," Pan muttered, and I glared at her. Suddenly, a wisp of white light waved out and away from the dragon's open mouth. The eerie glow lit up the garden as it floated to Snowlily and took the form of an older flying serpent.

"Snowlily." It nodded its head and she bowed down, folding her right fist into the palm of her left hand.

"OK, officially freaked out now," Pansy gulped. I nodded in terrified agreement.

"Sir, a thousand pardons to disturb you on such an night as this, but this is an emergency."

"What is it?" the old serpent asked in a raspy tone.

"I am sorry, Master. We have failed to keep ourselves hidden for the safety of everyone we love." Snowlily reached into the top of her robes and pulled out an amulet. The necklace was made of finely crafted gold for its chain and a white charm in the shape of an ice cube. My heart stopped.

The amulet was just like ours.


	23. Chapter 23

**I'm very late for this chapter and sorry... Lots of stuff has been happening lately. Since school's ending and lots of stuff is happening, I'm thinking of taking a two-week break off my story. I'm very sorry, but academics are super important. I hope you understand. :) Now, onward!**

**Oh, and the chapter is ispired by "Unknown Soldier" by Breaking Benjamin, hence the title.**

* * *

**Chapter 23**

**Unknown Soldier**

**Ivy's P.O.V.**

Talking with Li Yuen and Li Moon about their language was nice to hear about. It was soothing, and nice to hear everyone else around me talking and laughing after a strenuous day. I needed to learn some new things, especially if it was about the place we were to stay in for the next few hours. Unfortunately for us, though, horrors were just beginning.

A scream pierced through the darkness, roaring in our ears like a tsunami.

"Crap! Alyssum! Pansy!" Azalea yelled in weariness. Sonic zoomed out of the house, with the rest of us trailing behind him. We ran past the halls and into the garden, the air impacting us hard. Our tracks stopped cold as we saw the solid-ice barrier separating us from the two other demigoddesses and the white rabbit visitor.

"Snowlily!" Li Moon shrieked. "What has happened? Can you talk to us?"

"Yes, I most certainly can," she whispered. A prickle traveled up the fur on my neck. I glanced at Azalea and she nodded in conformation to the thoughts I was sending her.

_Something here is definitely wrong._

"Cecilia, do not interfere, please."

I choked on the brisk night air. How did she read my mind? How did she know my real name?

"I know many things about you, demigoddess. It is part of my training to understand the complexity of my enemies."

Pansy, who seemed to have snapped back to reality after a moment of being stunned, quipped angrily, "You better tell us who you are, lady, or else you're gonna be using your weird ice powers as a numbing source for all the bruises you're about to get."

The rabbit smirked. "Oh please, Evelyn, enough of your petty insults. Besides, I wouldn't do any teasing if I were you." With a snap of her fingers, spikes of ice flew through the edge of Pan's sneakers, and the frost coated over her whole foot. Alyssum gasped, hurrying to Pansy's side in a dash. The ice began to trail up her legs, and the two's breaths became shallow clouds of mist. The trap's internal air was dropping in temperature. If they were to exist in there as long as the temperature kept on dropping, the two could catch frostbite or hypothermia, and freeze to death.

"Stop it!" I found my voice again, turned my bracelet into my silver bow and arrow, and prepared to fire. The rabbit's eyes flared, and a cold mist swept over all seven of us. We crumpled instantly because of the sheer bitterness.

"Sleep tight…" The three disappeared from the scene with a loud snapping sound, and all of us began to drift into unconsciousness.

_Alyssum… Pansy…_

* * *

Sirens wailed in the distance, as did the chopping of helicopter blades. My eyes blinked open, groggily, and I snapped awake. A battlefield stood below me, as I was getting a front row seat of a battle. A terrible war. Worse then one we were already facing against Robotnik. I couldn't hear any of it, but I could definitely see it. All the details flashed against my eyes. A thought, out of nowhere, flew into my head.

_Could this be… the future? All of us, falling to pieces?_

My face fell at the sight of me. I was watching myself in this fight, as if I was an actor watching a movie I had acted in. Except, this was no movie. I prayed it was, even though I knew the thought wasn't true.

Against my will, I began to lower down from the smoky sky to the ground, like a hologram. My heart leapt into my throat, seeing the demons fighting against so many people I knew. Every Freedom Fighter on the entire planet was there, bloody, yelling, some even dying. The terror of watching so many heroes die fed the growing sickness inside my heart. A bulk of something fell into the ground. It was a body.

Wendell's body.

Dead.

My eyes glittering with tears. My voice was dry, and my vocal chords somehow couldn't seem to function. I felt something tug in my heart tell me to look up. And in that moment, I came eye-to-eye with myself. The me I had seen earlier below me from where I was before. The future me. But, how could this be?

The reflection of me moved her lips into a scream, tears trickling down her dirt-coated face. With her bow, I saw myself draw back an arrow and shoot it at the creature from afar who had killed Wendell. One of my best friends dead. And I had just seen it happen.

The arrow hit its target, and from where the horrible demon stood, it fell forward in a tangled mass. I kneeled beside him, sobbing. The real me, the one watching the vision, simply stood in silence. All of it was just… so… violent. And I mean that with every fiber of my being.

I walked through the crowd of horrors, feeling dead inside. I saw so many corpses of people I knew, and even some I didn't know. Dislocated hearts and bones, screaming, tears. That was what I saw and knew the victims of this fight felt before they left this world behind.

That vision faded, and I was sent into a bright white tunnel before approaching a throne-room. It was not the cheerful kind, like the one Pan and Azalea had described when they visited their mothers. This room seemed dark, cold, unwelcoming. Things, from there, quickly worsened.

"Cecelia?" my mom's voice shivered against my body, electrifying me from my thoughts.

"Mother!" I gasped, turning to see her happy and beautiful face and green clothes which I had seen so many times before in visions and dreams. Instead, I saw a tired and beaten face, with a skinny and frail body attached to chains in a tubular device. Her dress was ripped, if you could even consider it a dress anymore. Her wise presence was gone, replaced with one of sadness and exhaustion.

"Thank goodness, I have summoned you here, safe and sound."

"Safe and-?" My voice froze, looking around the black, desolate room. "Mom, what's going on? What were all those visions? Where are the other-?"

Her head weakly gestured to her sides. Air contracted into my lungs and froze there for a moment. The other goddesses were chained against the wall, in her same state. All of them, though, seemed to be asleep.

"Oh my gods…"

"Yes. I know. And, I'm sorry for being so mysterious lately. This is why I have been."

"Is there any way I can help?"

"Keep the stones away from her, Cecelia. From all of them. Or else, the universe is doomed."

My mind stopped thinking and calculating. What did she just say about the universe? "What?"

"Please, you must find them. If she obtains them all, the space-time continuum will be destroyed. She will gain all the power she wants, and only you and your friends can stop her and her army. I can tell you a few things though. Find the true snow demigoddess, and save her. Use her two other friends for assistance. Then, find the place where the other three are hidden, and begin your investigations to acquire the Stones."

"But, how do we-?"

A door from the entrance creaked open and she flicked her eyes to the throne in the dead center of the room. Like a nightmare, the vines decorating it began to writhe like snakes, lashing about and hissing.

"Go! Hurry!"

Another white light opened in front of my eyes and I fell unconscious.

* * *

"Ivy? Ivy! Hey, stop sleepin' and face the day!"

Eyes watched me wearily as I opened my eyelids open. A sea-blue, electric-blue, and emerald-green mix of colors stared back at me. Azalea and Sonic helped me sit up, while Sally was kneeling by my bedside and talking to me.

"Hey Ives. Glad to see you're up," the chipmunk smiled, unwrapping a pair of wooden chopsticks inside a piece of cloth and tying the cloth onto her finger. She walked over and picked up a china plate of fresh sushi, passing over the meal and chopsticks to me.

"Thanks," I sighed, stretching. A cold chill suddenly slipped past my spine and into my fingertips and toes. I shivered, placing the plate down and rubbing my arms.

"W-why is it s-so c-cold?" I chattered softly.

"That's probably the after-effects of the cold wave she dashed over us," Azalea grimaced.

"Huh? Oh, right."

"You think you're alright to eat?" Sonic asked, eyes filling with sympathy.

"I think so," I sighed, the chill dying down. I picked up the chopsticks and began to chew on the sushi. Sonic gawked at me.

"How the heck do you use those things?"

The three of us stared at him, smiling. He shrugged. "What? I'm serious."

After an eye-roll and a few more bites, I stood onto my feet, shoved on a pair of slippers Sonic offered me, and the four of us slipped out of the door.

"What happened after we passed out?"

"Well, you've been out for only about 12 hours, the last person to wake up," Sally explained, opening the door that led outside to the garden. "Pansy and Alyssum seem to held hostage, except we have no idea where they are. The white rabbit hasn't made any appearances around town, either."

"Li Yuen woke up first, then Li Moon, Sally, and I," Sonic continued, brushing his quills back to avoid being caught on a thorned branch. "Azalea woke up soon afterward, but you were out cold, and kept on muttering to yourself. We carried you inside and settled you down, tried to make conclusions about what happened, and comforted the Li's about the terrible secrets of one of their closest friends."

"We're not sure how to investigate this at all," Azalea sighed, chewing on her thumbnail. "So Sally called for some help."

The chinchilla pointed to a monkey in front of a cherry blossom tree. He wore blue and red robes, a crown, and held a golden staff with colorfully-tipped ends. I stared at him and thought back to the dream. Could this be one of Snowlily's friends?

"Hello Sally, Sonic, Azalea," he nodded to us solemnly, his voice low and relaxed. "What help do you need on the hunt for one of my best friends?"

This person was a friend of Snowlily? A best friend? I stared at him silently, and itched to pull out my bow and arrow. This guy was a friend of someone who had stolen our friends.

This was going to get interesting.


	24. Chapter 24

**Urgh, sorry for the late update. My head is pounding from all the studying and calculating from school. So, I'll try to keep it short.**

**First off, the probability of me updating on Friday is low. Too much stuff to do, but I will try.**

**Second off, we've almost reached 25 chapters! 25 CHAPTERS, PEOPLE! Whoo! Milestone chapter battle next time!**

**Third off, I've been thinking about stuff. Maybe I'll be doing some mini stories, or one-shots over the summer, since I'll probably be bored out of my mind. If anyone has any ideas for what I could do, I welcome them with open arms.**

**Fourth off, (this is probably the biggest news), I was thinking about doing a fanfic collab with a friend! Her pen name is SpunPinkSugarGlaze (she is currently writing a story on Fruit's Basket, so you can check that out if you like the series and Tohru x Yuki). We've been thinking about doing it on Animal Crossing, but it's not set in stone yet. We are hoping to work on it though.**

**That is all of my blabbing. Now, get your reading glasses ready (or more ready, if you read this whole A/N...)**

* * *

**Chapter 24**

**Possession**

**Ivy's P.O.V.**

My knuckles cracked as I tightened my hands into tight balls of fury. He was an ally of our enemy. How could the Freedom Fighters let this slip past them?

"Who are you? Why are you here?" I spat, letting the words hit him like bullets. He solemnly stared at my eyes, sky-blue against grass-green.

"I am Monkey Khan, and I have come here asking for your help, Freedom Fighters, and you, Ms…"

"Ivy, sir. And why have you come for our help?"

"I have come to you and your friends to ask for assistance in saving my friend from Dr. Robotnik and the Dark Aurora Empress."

My jaw hit the floor. "WHAT?!"

"It's a long story, but I will summarize it for you," he sighed. I glared back at Sally, Sonic, and Azalea. They shrugged and exhaled, showing their knowledge of this news. Before I could ask further, he briefly explained that a demon sent by the Dark Aurora Empress (or DAE for short) had possessed Snowlily's body and mind, along with the dragon god. He and another friend of Snowlily's had noticed some weird things about her lately, but decided not to say anything, because they thought it was a "girl thing". Anyways, they had come back to the house, since they were close friends of Li Moon's and Li Yuen's, and found us lying on the ground. They helped us into the house and waited until the others awakened, and explained everything to them.

"You said there was someone else with you, right?" I asked after the explanation was finished.

"Yes," a deep voice murmured from the shadows. A rabbit approached us from the shade of a tall cherry blossom tree, and watched us with amber eyes inside a black hood. His fur was easily able to camouflage in the shadows, as well as his jet-black cape, pants and long-sleeved top. His feet were bare, but a sharp glint coming from beneath both pant legs suggested that getting to close would mean a kick _and_ a cut to the stomach.

Monkey Khan shook his head. "Awhisper, take off that mask. It won't prove useful anymore."

The rabbit harrumphed and pulled off the cloak coverings, revealing a gorgeous yet stern face beneath. "Ken-sama, I'm still not sure about this. How do you know these people aren't trained ninjas or assassins?"

"You're too paranoid. Now, please, go introduce yourself."

He bowed, folding his hands together and leaning forward. "I am Awhisper the Rabbit, or Wisp, as a shortened name. I apologize for having to sneak up on you like that. One can never be too careful, especially in these dark times."

"Sheesh, ray of sunshine, isn't he?" Sonic muttered. An "ow!" followed soon afterward, as I heard Sally elbow him in the ribcage.

"Hello," I greeted solemnly, bowing in response. I kept my eyes on the shiny thing under his pants, though.

"Wisp, bring out the map."

"Map?" Azalea asked curiously, as Wisp reached into his cloak to bring out a rolled-up piece of papyrus paper. He unraveled it and there showed a map of the whole Stormtop Village, with red X's covering various spots of the town.

Monkey Khan held the map over his chest. "Ever since Snow disappeared, which happened quite recently, we had pulled out this map to see if we could narrow down a place where there was the most spiritual, demonic, or intense energy. We've been able to find locations where there was little to any strange signs of energy, where the X's are. We've narrowed down to two possible areas." He pointed to the two areas circled in red marker. "The Stormtop Mountain overlooking the village, or the shrine of the Snow Dragon." The locations were on the other sides of the town. But since they were so far apart, this would mean-

"We'd have to split up into groups, haven't we?" I asked, looking up at Monkey Khan.

"Yes. This is why the two of us needed your and the Freedom Fighters' help. As you were unconscious, we devised a plan to split up."

I frowned, calculating the distance in locations and the factors at hand. "That isn't a very intelligent idea. I mean, notice how far the two locations are. If we split up, it's possible that they could defeat us much quicker and with much more ease. Plus, we would be going up against a dragon god of ice, a demigoddess trainee of that god, an evil scientist with a large robot army, and an evil queen with a crowd of dark demons."

Wisp hardened his amber gaze. "We realize those odds, Ms. Ivy. And we are willing to take them, even if it means possible death to try and save our friend."

My eyebrows raised. I immediately thought of Alyssum, who would likely be applauding Wisp for those words of friendship. Sonic's face lit up. He grinned and said to me, "Couldn't you just try and contact Aly and Pan mentally to see if we can find their location?"

"No!" I burst, making him jump. "Going straight into the heart of their battle settlement would be suicide!"

"The Dark Aurora Empress, like the book says, is a psychic and can hack into peoples' minds and drive them insane if the victim is close enough," Azalea explained briefly, and Sonic's bright expression dropped.

"Oh. Sorry, I was just sayin'…"

A light bulb appeared in my mind. "You know, actually, Sonic here might have a point."

Azalea stared at me, like I was insane. "What?"

"No, I mean, if I could let her access my mind when and if we're close enough, then maybe I could find some info about what's going on!"

"That's an insane idea!" Sally gasped. Then she smiled deviously, responding with, "It's psychotic, but it's also genius!" She pointed at Tails, and said, "Sonic, go get Nicole's computer from the Hurricane. We'll see if we can find a way to track down the location of-"

In a flash, the blue hedgehog was long gone, and came rushing back about five seconds later with Nicole in his hands. "Done, Sal. Now, let's see what we got."

Sally booted up Nicole's software and began to rapidly begin tapping on the mini keyboard a few commands. A radar screen soon popped up, and a green light spun in circles, trying to get a spiritual energy signal. Suddenly, the screen began to blink rapidly at the shrine at the northwestern side of town.

"I've got it!" Sally jubilated, clicking on a few more buttons before clicking the computer onto her left blue boot. "I'll let the Li's know we're heading out to find Snowlily. The rest of you, get a head start. I'll catch up."

Monkey Khan smiled. "Thanks, Sally. Now finding Snowlily will hopefully be much easier."

We ran off into the settlement, dashing towards our friends and the battle ahead.

* * *

**Pansy's P.O.V.**

"P-Pansy?" Aly croaked, shaking me awake. My eyes yanked open. Everything that had happened hit my like a punch to the head remembered. Especially the horrible feeling of being trapped in that freezer of a trap. My skin shivered as a brisk breeze filled the cage Aly and I sat in.

Wait. Cage?!

True to my realization, the two of us were stuck in a prison cell inside a dark and musty room, with very little light to see anything. My instincts recognized automatically that this was a prison, from the so many times I had been in before.

I tried to stand, but rusted chains kept me tied down. The rough metal dug into my wrists and ankles, preventing me from ripping off the restraining ties without having to lose blood circulation and the use of my hands and feet. I stared down at me feet, and noticed that my shoes were taken off, sitting at the corner of the room. The skin under my feet had turned purple, which wasn't normal. That wasn't normal, even though my fur was usually purple. I tried to move my toes.

Except I wasn't feeling a thing.

"Crap!" I murmured, trying to make my toes twitch even the slightest. Nothing.

"I-I tried to use a warm air current to warm up your feet, but… I just couldn't, I was so weak." She slumped against the bars of the cage. "I'm so sorry. If you lose the use of your feet, I would just-"

"Never mind that, Aly. We have bigger problems than me being handicapped. Like, how the heck are we gonna get outta here?"

"Well, I have been trying to use my elemental powers, but I can't. I don't know, but there seems to some sort of invisible barrier preventing access to our powers or the outside world."

"So, no luck trying to reach Aly?"

"None."

"Great. So we're stuck here."

"Basically."

I growled in frustration, and slammed my forehead against the metal bars of the cage. We were stuck in a cage, with no possible way out without hurting ourselves.

Suddenly, a door to our right slammed open. Light flooded into the room, and we shielded our eyes from the sudden brightness. A suspiciously cold wind ran into the room and tangled around our weak bodies and torn dresses. Our breath was taken away from us.

"Ah, good. You rancid sewer filth are awake," a familiar voice growled. The demigoddess's face we saw before we passed out mocked us. I grimly glared at the figure in a white cloak with rabbit ears sticking up from the hood.

"What do you want with us?" I snapped, looking as ferocious as I could as I knelt against the floor. She pulled off her hood, revealing her beautiful, evil face.

"I've only come to retrieve you, so my masters can bestow upon you the gift of hell." Her lips curled into a sinister smile. No words echoed from my mouth as she inserted a key into the lock of the cell, undid the locks binding our chains to the ground, and lifted them into her hands. She also pulled out another two chains, but on one end of each, and steel, unclipped collar was attached.

"No. Please don't," Aly gulped, trembling at the sight of the chains. "We aren't your enemies."

"Huh. You actually have some nerve talking to me, begging me for mercy, wimp," she snarled, latching the chain tight to her neck. Aly gagged, tears streaming into sight.

"Don't you dare-!" I began, before she kneed me in the gut and locked my throat up as well.

"Now now, girls, you don't know how to behave, do you?"

"Hurk!" we cried, as Snowlily dragged our shivering bodies down away from the cell. My feet weren't working, so she was dragging me by the chains on my wrists, ankles, and throat down the hall. Aly looked back at me as she was forced along, watching me suffer with tears in her eyes. She tried to reach back and help me, but a whap of a long, white stick in the rabbit's right hand prevented her from helping me further. I could see blood begin to drip from her hand and onto the floor.

We finally entered a grandiose room after our struggled walking (in Aly's case) and crawling like a newborn (in my case). The room was tall and bleak, with stone walls and brick flooring and a serious lack of color. Faded, shredded tapestries of a white dragon slithering over and breathing snowstorms onto villages hung on the walls. A statue of the older dragon god we had seen earlier came into view as we were shoved onto the black carpet. The familiar whirring and hissing of robots and Shade Demons roared in my ears, and my fists clenched. Snow noticed this gesture, and whapped me on my already weak wrists hard. I hissed.

"Hush it. You haven't even seen the big surprise yet." She forced our heads in the direction of two thrones, glowing in the light of torches in front of the room. The occupiers looked much like-

"Holy-" The chain was the only thing keeping me from swearing my head off.

In front of us was Dr. Robotnik, sitting proudly in his floating cockpit, with an army of robot guards surrounding him. Next to him was a hooded figure gripping to a throne the height of Li Yuen (about 7 feet tall). Sharp, jet-black nails dug into the wooden structure of the throne as- get this- the vines that decorated the throne danced around her like snakes.

I had no idea who this lady was, but she was making me feel like an asteroid had just slammed into my chest.

"Well, it is good to see you two again," Robotnik hissed, his blue glasses glinting in the firelight. "I see you and Snowlily have become reacquainted."

"Not on your sorry butt, Eggman. Plus, you call this scene here-" I gestured to the minor foes and depressing scenery. "-menacing? I've seen programs on television more terrifying."

He glared at me, a small vein beginning to pulsate on his forehead. "Why, you lousy little-"

"Enough." The chilling, scratchy voice from the hooded figure silenced the hushed murmurs and hisses from the servants. "Do not become aggravated by this young girl, Ivo. She is just trying to demand attention. That is understandable, since her parents abandoned her."

My teeth gritted together so hard, my jaw felt sore. Before I could object, she continued, "Yes, this one is a tough nut to crack. Hardened by hatred of ones who abandoned her on the streets at five, by when a group of so-called "Freedom Fighters" gave her to you, Ivo, for cold, hard cash, by her lust for the lives of so many enemies, by her love for a lad already taken. No one can really have difficulty comprehending why she is so hateful and distrusting of others."

From the corner of my eye, I noticed Aly stare at me in horror at this news. Snowlily and Robotnik let out grunts of satisfaction. My blood began to boil. "How about you shut up and let us go before this gets ugly?"

"Why, my dear, it already has." A piercing scream echoed in the room, and I fell to the floor, grasping my head. Rapid gasps of air pumped through my lungs.

"Stop the screaming!" I yelled. My eyes met Aly's, and she widened her gaze.

"But, Pan, no one's screaming."

I could almost hear the smile through the cheerful tone speaking through the hood. "No, you're right, Aly. I'm just giving her a taste of, like Snowlily said earlier, the gift of hell." Another scream joined in with the first, as I writhed on the ground. "You can thank Azalea for letting Robotnik use the book."

"Stop right there!"

A familiar voice stopped the screams, and I stopped rolling, gasping and panting. Snowlily dropped the chains at just the right moment as the invisible barrier preventing us from using our powers seemingly broke. Instantly, I snapped the chains away from myself, then Aly as she fell to her knees.

"Make another move," a black rabbit growled, pointing a long samurai sword at the two leaders. "I dare you." Next to the newcomer stood an unfamiliar monkey, the three New Mobotropolis Freedom Fighters, and Azalea and Ivy.

"Well well, look who's joined the party," Snowlily growled coldly. She stripped off the cloak, revealing a white leotard with an _incredibly_ low V-neck, thigh-length, tan-colored boots, and white hair turned into two buns with long, ankle-length locks flowing from the bottoms. Her ungloved hands moved against her face seductively, and she winked. The black rabbit and brown monkey winced at her overly revealing clothes.

"Now that you're here, we can really start the party." Snowlily clapped, and two batons with whips flowing from the top appeared into her hands.

"I agree," Robotnik growled. He clicked a button, and the demons and robots suddenly became more anxious to fight. "Good thing I have this violence enhancer at hand. Now we can really have some fun!"

The hooded figure stood, and raised her sleeved hands. "Now, I release your restraints. Go, and destroy your foes!"

Some sort of invisible restraints on them shattered, and the demons were released all at once, rushing forward like a flash flood.

Robotnik grinned and the creepy lady cackled. My gut felt numb, and not because Snowlily had punched me. She roared, "Let the battle begin!"


	25. Chapter 25

**It has submerged! The long-thought dead fanfic writer has risen from her grave!**

**Oh my gosh, guys, I'm so sorry this took so long. Now that school's over, and summer has begun, of COURSE I get bronchitus and have the A/C knocked out of power when it's over 90 degrees. UGGH. :P**

**But this chapter is extra long, which I hope makes up for my LATE lateness. Plus, in addition to the chapters I will be writing every Friday, I will also try and write 5 extra chapters on other days of the week, due to extra summer free-time. So be sure to check every day to see when the surprise chapters come out!**

**Also, this chapter is spilt into two parts; the next part will be out next week Friday, because the extreme awesomeness is so massive that it has to cover two chapters. Now, get ready for some beastly sound effects, fights, and grand surprises involving teenagers fighting demonic and evil creatures and robots!**

**...**

**Wow, that _did _sound an awful lot like _Sailor Moon_... Anyways, enjoy my first milestone chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter 25**

**Why Not To Use a Fake Chaos Emerald (1/2)**

**Azalea's P.O.V.**

The first thing I heard when the demons and robots attacked was Pansy scream, "Aly, get down!"

A demon on the fronts raked its claws against Pan's cheek, drawing blood on sight. Aly screamed and things tumbled hopelessly outta control from there.

We had just arrived at the scene and were already charging into battle, weapons ready. We had already recovered from the sprint we took to arrive at the shrine, and I was glad we took a little rest time before we dove in. Robots and demons approached us in a rage, as we began to take down the army. Weapons tore into skin, and my natural impulse overtook me. Ever since I had arrived on this planet, I noticed how with each fight, I became stronger and more confident. To me, that made sense, considering all the hell I'd been through in such a short two weeks.

As I looked around, I noticed all the shouting and screaming of enemies and teammates. Splattered blood and oil, red and black (in the case of the demons, though, their blood was black), destroyed the throne room's tranquility. I noticed something as I delivered a roundhouse kick to a nearby demon's stomach. Sonic had managed to take Pan out of the fight in a blur and onto one of the roof's supporting beams. She looked to be in pretty bad shape, once I saw the tears in Aly's eyes and the clenched teeth on Pan's face as she disappeared above us. Ten seconds ticked by, and Sonic dropped back to the floor, emrald eyes wide and red blush coating his muzzle. This drew my attention away from the battle momentarily, but in these fight-to-the-death cases, you can never turn your back on a fight.

You can never know what mistakes you'll make if you make a wrong decision in battle.

"Move!" Monkey Khan yelled and I snapped awake. He was sending a lightning bolt from his staff to a demon about to leap onto my back. It paused in mid-air, like it was frozen, before dropping like a stone onto the floor.

So much for developing better reflexes and attention in battle, I thought bitterly to myself. I was surprised that Ivy didn't respond inside my mind. Then I remembered that she couldn't, unless she wanted her mind invaded by the Empress, like Snowlily's fate.

"Thanks!" I cried at him, stabbing the demon in the heart and letting it die in front of my eyes. It disappeared into ashes.

"Watch yourself, Ms. Azalea! I can't go protecting you while trying to save our friend!"

He blasted a bolt in the direction of Robotnik, but the blast was deflected by a flick of the hooded lady's hand. A rumble coursed inside the room, and I saw cracks form on the wall. Uh-oh.

But before I could even think of making another move, something happened. The Empress pulled a fat, metal jar from the folds of the cloak, which seemed impossibly big to fit in her coverings. She undid the bindings that protected the… thing, inside it, and opened the top. An impossibly bright light shone in the room, and the fights halted. Demons hissed from the brilliant light, and we all shielded our eyes. Robotnik and the hooded lady didn't seem at all fazed, though. The battle screeched to a halt.

Once I could see again, my eyes fluttered open to see the amazing jewel now floating in the lady's shriveled, white hand. The gem was a sparkling, grass-green, in the shape of a small diamond. An intense energy wave rippled off the object, and I winced in its presence. I could feel the sound and movement in the room drop when the jewel was presented. The energy didn't feel like an Aura Stone's had, but it still felt incredibly powerful. So then, what was it?

"A Chaos Emerald?!" Tails exclaimed, pointing a shaky finger at the gem. I instantly remembered them discussing the gems with me earlier, and how it was incredibly important they collected all seven of them before they fell into the wrong hands.

Erm, it seemed to be too late for that.

"It is a beautiful gem, isn't it, young Miles Prower?" she hissed at Tails. He froze up when she mentioned his true name, with a facial expression of terror.

"Tails, sweetheart, I know everything about you, not just your name," she continued, like she had just read his mind. His limbs stiffened like a stone statue. "In fact, I know everything about all of you. I know how difficult your childhood was, and how you can communicate with others using telepathy. I know how you, Sally, were taken away from your family and everything you love when you were young and how you fell for a few certain someones standing in this room right now." I noticed how not only Sonic stiffened his body, but how Monkey Khan did as well. My jaw, mentally, dropped onto the floor. "And Ms. Pansy, you cannot hide up in the ceiling forever, even if you are temporarily disabled." One of the vines on her throne shot upward to the columns, causing Pansy to yelp and squirm as the vine tightened around her stomach.

"I won't be forgetting any of this for a long time, Mr. Wisp," she snarled, gesturing at Snow. The vine tightened around Pan, and Snowlily grinned like a psychopath at him. She slapped one of her whips at the hostage, and Pan growled menacingly. Instead of cowering in fear (Probably like I would've had in that scenario… Oh, wait.), a powerful rage was painted onto her face.

"You better let me go, or they'll be hell to pay," she snapped.

"Oh, please. You couldn't even beat one of my measly minions, and had to have someone else save you in order to live. I remember these events, hideous mammal; my memory is as good as an elephant's."

Pan smirked against the pain. "Then it's no wonder you would probably look as fat and hideous as one."

"No, I am not hideous. I am-" She paused, then cackled. "No, I won't say anything. Why spoil the surprise?"

In the blink of an eye, Pan was thrown high up the room and into the stone dragon statue. She fell into the right front claw of the beast, coughing and spluttering. My companions clenched their fists and stared, terrified and angry at our two opponents. My jaw bound tightly, and, blindly, I shoved my trident to Snowlily. The rabbit froze, noticing the weapon under her neck a bit too late.

"Do anything more to any of us, and your servant goes bye-bye."

Gasps pierced the room. "Are you completely insane?!" Wisp roared. "Don't you dare even _think _of-"

"Hold on, Wisp," Monkey Khan interrupted, grabbing his friend by the shoulder. "I think I see what she's doing."

Wisp's face contorted with barely-contained rage, but he remained silent.

I cleared my throat. "I suggest you hand the Chaos Emerald over to me right now-" I dug the trident deeper into Snow's throat, seeing the small indent grow bigger. "Or, I kill her and release the dragon god that inhibits her. And I think you know what happens if I do decide it's her time to leave this world. You see, the dragon gods can only inhabit chosen ones, or ones that are pure of heart. He could possess anyone in this room who isn't an evil being, which are any of us Freedom Fighters. Meaning, when the god takes over, we can take you and your whole army down in a minute, flat."

Hisses and mechanical whirring grew in volume, but the hooded lady put her hand up to silence them. I felt hundreds of pairs of eyeballs focused on me. She rose, murmuring with poison in her voice, "Just who do you think you're messing with, girl? I would never give the Chaos Emerald to you. Besides, you wouldn't have enough courage to do it." I felt her deathly-cold eyes focused on my eyes, and goose bumps covered the skin under my fur. _Now's the chance._

"You're right; maybe I wouldn't. But maybe someone else would." I stared up at Pan; a smirk crept onto my lips. "NOW!"

The villains paused, asking in unison, "What are you-?"

The stone hand of the dragon statue snapped off, and Pan somersaulted down the dragon's back, did a mid-air back flip and rolled off the fall to the floor. She crawled onto her knees and watched with glee as the claw slammed onto the head of the lady.

"GAH!" she screeched, tumbling forward, the emerald flying from her hands. Almost in slow-motion, it tumbled through the air. Demons and robots snapped out of their senses all too late. My body soared up and I caught the gem in the palm of my hand. Nervous adrenaline coursed through my veins as I tumbled backward into a crowd of enemies. My hands grasped the emerald so tightly; I felt my knuckles turn white through my glove. A swift wind lifted me into the air, and I grinned down at Aly, who had created a wind current to lift me out of trouble.

"Sonic!" I yelled, chucking the emerald with all my might in his direction. He hopped up into the air, and caught it like a quarterback would to a football. The monsters snapped out of shock mode, and began to start fighting again, angrier than before at the fall of the demon lady.

"No!" Robotnik roared. Sonic winked as he fell back down and dashed through the awe-struck enemies to Snowlily.

"Chaos Unification!" he yelled, pressing the emerald close to her heart. Her body lurched, as green Chaos energy rushed into her body like a reverse vacuum and black Aura energy flooded away into the open air. A sharp gasp rushed into her lungs, and she panted loudly. "What-?"

"NO!" Robotnik boomed. He yanked a large laser gun from his flying headquarters, and began charging energy to fire.

A sudden slash of silver rushed against the cannon in the blink of an eye, shattering it to pieces. "Egad!" Robotnik screamed, his anger vanishing and turning into fear. Wisp appeared on the opposite side of the room to where he was before. Two long samurai swords were tightly grasped within his hands, and his amber eyes glowed with hatred.

"Don't touch her, unless you want to find your limbs on opposite corners of the room, you sadistic, sick, hell-bent-"

"Wisp, cool it," I soothed him. "Besides, you have other matters to attend to." I tilted my head in Snowlily's and Sonic's direction, and he nodded wordlessly. He sped over to them, and embraced Snowlily tightly. A soft smile crept onto my face as I chopped the head off of a small robot. The rabbit was startled as Wisp explained the events that had just occurred, and Sonic rushed out of sight. In another few short seconds and a burst of green light, Pansy came rushing back into battle beside the speedy hero, and nodded her thanks to him.

"Whoo boy, it is really good to be back!" she whooped triumphantly, diving into a crowd of robots, which were quickly mowed down by a few waves of flying stone shards from the broken dragon hand Pan summoned. "That Chaos Emerald really did the trick!"

"Hey," Sally greeted the two of us, karate-chopping a demon in the head. "Just wondering, how did you guys get the jump on the creepy lady?"

"It was very simple. We had to communicate with each other earlier using Ivy's telekinesis and create a back-up plan in case a scenario like this ever occurred," I explained bluntly, nailing a demon in the jaw.

"But, isn't she telekinetic as well?"

"Not if we got private, secretive training from Ivy as to how to lock our minds so no one can invade."

Sally raised an eyebrow. "How did she know Pan was hiding?"

"The lady probably isn't blind as a bat," Pan shrugged.

"I heard that!" Aly cried over the noise.

Pan smirked. "Anyways, we need to get out of here." Her face became more serious. "If we stay here any longer, all the crashing and fighting might make this place come crashing down on us."

We looked around the building. Pan was right. The crack I had seen earlier was beginning to spread onto the high ceiling, and a small piece of rubble hit me directly in the eye. I swore softly, and we glanced around for options of escape. Then, it hit us all at the same time.

"Oh, Soonic!" Pan seemed to squirm a little when we called his name. Sally didn't seem to notice, but I was looking at the red blush forming on her cheeks.

The blue hero zoomed over to us, and tilted his head in confusion. "Wassup, guys? Didja need something?"

We all gestured to the green Chaos Emerald in his hand. Sally briefly explained the situation to him. He gave a lop-sided frown.

"What's wrong, Sonic?" Sally asked, holding Sonic's empty hand. Pan's eyes glittered dangerously. She looked like she was going to punch someone. I looked up at her face, and she turned away, suddenly bashful.

"See, I can do Chaos Control only if I have two or more Emeralds. Right now, I only have one."

"I can accomplish this task."

Wisp's husky voice made us all jump. He sheathed his swords, and placed his hands on his hips. "I have the ability to. I've done it before."

"Really?" Sonic asked.

"Yes."

"Huh. Ya know, you really remind me of another ebony-"

"Can we please just get out of here before we get brain trauma from the stone that will soon be on top of our heads?" I exclaimed.

We nodded. Sonic tossed Wisp the Emerald, and we began rounding up the other members. I ran ahead, Sonic retrieved Tails, Pan got Aly, Wisp guided Snowlily and Sally pushed Monkey Khan to the center. Robotnik stared at us in confusion, very confused as he ordered robots to tend to the injured empress. "What the-?!"

Wisp grinned, holding the Chaos Emerald into the air. We linked hands (Pan and Sonic were blushing harshly now, since they had to hold hands), and Wisp yelled, "CHAOS-"

"What?! NO!" Robotnik yelled. (I swear, it felt like he was screaming his lungs out for the fiftieth time today.)

"-CONTROL!"

With a loud FWASH!, we were gone in a brilliant spark of light.

* * *

After the teleportation (which felt like we were being squished through a tube of toothpaste), we hit the firm ground hard. Our hand links broke, and we caught our breath. We were at… um…

"Hey! Look! It's my log cabin!"

Tails's voice echoed in the jungle-y terrain. What on Earth was he talking about?

Tails wound up his tails and flew up a steep hill to a well built cabin with a porch and a shed beside it. We followed him skeptically on the dirt path as he examined the building. The hill was tall enough so you could see a beach a short distance away, but with trees and plants in every other direction. Ivy walked over to a plant, closed her eyes, and felt a petal of a red flower with a yellow stem sticking out from the petals' center. She looked over at us, and said, "This is a hibiscus. A tropical plant."

"What? Tails, where are we and how do you know this cabin?" Sonic questioned his bro, staring at the wooden structure.

"Well, after you were thought to be killed, Sonic, I traveled here a lot to get my mind off the… incident."

Before I decided whether or not to ask anything about the subject of Sonic's "death", there was a mechanical whir behind us. A machine of colossal proportions stood directly behind us, sticking a laser cannon in our faces. My eyes glared closer and I saw a short man with six black hairs on his almost-bald head and an outfit similar to Robotnik's, except for the green instead of the red. He looked like Robotnik in some ways, with the relationships in baldness and huge noses.

"Snively!" Tails cried. "What are you doing here?"

I vaguely remembered the F.F.'s explanation on a short bratty henchman who was nephew to Dr. Robotnik and who always liked to make attempts to gain power for himself. He was, supposedly, a mini version of the doctor.

The tall mech, composed of painted red and yellow arms and legs, tilted closer to our faces, and the clear window opened. His crooked face smirked down at us. "It's a good thing you stupid Freedom Fighters fell for the trap. I've wanted to meet this _new_ Freedom Fighter group I've been hearing so much about lately from Uncle Eggy." He looked at our crowd and counted off Pansy, Ivy, Alyssum, Snowlily, Wisp, and I. "Mmm, I see. You must be the new group."

"We're part of it," I replied bitterly. He leaned into my face so close I could see his nose hairs (All I have to say: Ick!).

"You must be the leader then. Ms. Azalea, I think. An extraterrestrial. I must say, you must have learned quite a bit while on Mobius, hmm?"

"Back off, cowardice maggot," Snowlily insulted him, saying the first thing I heard her say without the effects of mind-control. A bit intimidating, in my opinion. "I suggest you and your armies retreat before chaos ensues." True to her words, I noticed an army of more and more smaller mechs with shaded front windows and similar design to Snively's lead mech began building up behind him.

"I think it already has, filthy animal," he snapped back. Monkey Khan and Wisp drew their weapons.

"Don't you dare say a word to her," Wisp snarled menacingly. His fur suddenly began to dim into an even darker shade of black than it already was, and his pupils were disappearing. The Chaos Emerald grew darker with his fur change, and both object and master began to swim with a dangerously dark aura. The mechs began to step back, and Snively watched him nervously, losing his cool.

"Calm down, Wisp," Monkey Khan advised him. "Keep a level head."

The rabbit grimaced, but nodded. The aura disappeared, and Snively cackled, regaining control of himself and pressing his mech up to its full height. "This is what you call a team?!" Squawks echoed from the tall weapons alongside Snively's laughing madness.

"Why are birds in those mechs?" I asked the others through tight lips, bringing out my trident.

"I'm trying to hack into one of their brains now," Ivy muttered back, pressing her hands to her temples and closing her eyes. Suddenly, one of the mechs to the right began jerking madly, as if it were out of control. No one was noticing though, because they were all still laughing at us and gloating at "how pathetic the new team was" and "how taking control of Mobius wasn't going to be much harder with us on guard". Ivy reopened her eyes and the mech returned to normal. "OK, so these little helpers are part of another army called the Battle Bird Armada. They teamed up with Robotnik and are planning to use the small, un-evolved Mobian animals and evolved Mobian residents as slaves as resources to power a new type of robot prototype. It's another sceme to try and take over Mobius. And we're on Cocoa Island, a place far, far west from New Mobotropolis, not even on the same continent, in the middle of the ocean. They sent us here with the fake Chaos Emerald, so basically, this was all a trap."

"Whoa, you got all that just from one of those little guys?" Sally gaped.

Ivy shook her head. "I also, mentally, hacked into one of their computer files, which were downloaded onto each of these machines. That helped a lot. Because, basically, these little bird henchmen aren't really well informed of the plans the leaders of the Battle Bird Armada and the Empire have."

Monkey Khan gawked. "She hacked into a computer with her _mind_?"

"Why are you so surprised? You have metallic innards and float around on a mini storm cloud shooting lightning bolts," I replied. He shrugged.

"So, are we just gonna stand around here, or kick some bird butt?" Sonic grinned cockily. I rolled my eyes, but nodded in agreement with the others. "Well then, let's do it to-!"

**WHAM!**

We all jumped in surprise at a sudden slamming sound, and gazed at a figure shadowed in mid-leap by the sun. One of the mechs came toppling down, proceeding to hit another huge suit, and then another, and another…

**WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!**

Ten, squawk-filled seconds later, five mechs were lying on top of each other like dominos, with broken windows and forcefully removed limbs scattering the ground. The still-active mechs moved in circles, searching for the source of their downed comrades. We were no longer their prime focus, and vice versa.

"What is going on?" Wisp growled, placing his hands on his twin samurai sword hilts.

"W-Who's there?" Snively whimpered fearfully. He jumped at a sudden lightning bolt that ripped through the air. Clouds billowed in the sky, replacing the clear, humid tropical weather. The clouds looked condensed with water to me, but there wasn't a drop of rain that had fallen.

**DWOO! BA-ZAP!**

A column of flame burst from a nearby tree, and the flaming glory fell onto a nearby mech, causing an intimidating explosion, and was followed by a ray of orange light flash-frying another metallic beast. Three figures flew above us, another flash of lightning streaking behind them. The light lit barely for a second, but in the next, they were gone.

Pansy frowned, pulling out her bo-staff. "What the-?"

A loud crashing sound billowed in our ears as the three strange figures appeared behind us, creating cracks in the places they slammed into. We stared at them in confusion and astonishment. All of them had something in common: similar ages (14-15 or so), similar dresses with weapons, each seemed to represent a certain color and theme, and a necklace with an elemental amulet hung around their neck.

The lead girl was a yellow koala, with ankle-length, blonde hair and a thick bang covering her left eye. She wore a cheerleader-style dress, with a slender top, ribbons that held up the dress tied around her neck and a layered skirt with white hems. Ice-white gladiator sandals were tied around her fuzzy, clawed feet, and a lightning-shaped amulet hung around her neck. Her white, fingerless gloves tightened around twin daggers with lightning-shaped handles, and her spark-yellow eyes glittered cheerfully.

The hedgehog girl to her left themed the color red, which was probably why red-hot fire was dancing on her right hand's fingertips. Her dress was very identical to Amy's, I remembered, except the dress's shade of red was much richer and deeper than the original, it was completely sleeveless, and the white hems were a super-light yellow. Lighter-shaded flame etched up the umbrella-shaped bottom up to the abdominal region of the dress, and devil-red sneakers with flame patterns covered her feet. Her quills were a much gentler shade of red, and were held up in pigtails with ribbons. Although she looked cute in the red-hot look, it was more of the platinum, thinly-bladed sword she was gripping in her other, non-flaming hand that seemed to have a more intimidating effect.

The orange kitty off to the koala's left looked much more… um… _maturely developed_, then the others. Her off-the-shoulder-sleeved dress went down to the middle of her thighs, and glowed a luminous orange color. Her sleek cat fur glittered in the sun, which made sense, since an amulet in the shape of a sun hung around her neck. Thigh-length gray boots protected her feet and part of her legs and fingerless-and-tan-gloved hands held up a gray shield in the shape of a boomerang. She flashed a smile, showing off her clean white fangs. Her body would have made quite a few guys I know begin drooling on the spot.

So, in one word: Whoa. We had just found the three remaining demigoddesses by just falling for Robotnik's plan. Unless, of course, they were really robotic doppelgangers, which would suck. But I looked on the positive side of things, and was thinking that they were the real deals.

"What the-? You!" Snively roared angrily, an anger vein as clear as day burning on his forehead. "What are you three doing here?! I thought you were caged back at the base!"

"Well, you funny, needle-nosed man, you just can't keep a good girl down," the red hedgehog smirked. She whipped out her sword and leapt high into the air. "Eat sword, coward!" Just as she was beginning to fall, though, her feet suddenly ignited, and flames began blasting from the soles of her sneakers. She began to rocket back into the air. The hedgehog was _flying._

"What in the name of Mobius just happened?" Aly whispered, eyes so wide that they seemed cartoon-y.

"I'm not quite sure, Alyssum," Snowlily responded, her voice soft and level. She turned back to the remaining two slowly, and we all copied.

"'Ello," the yellow koala smiled cheerfully, like we were having a tea party instead of fighting an army of killer robots. "How are you doing?"

"Oh, very well," Monkey Khan responded sarcastically, her cheeks heating up. "We've only just traveled halfway across Mobius through Chaos Control, using an apparently fake Chaos Emerald, discovered the existence of this tropical island that'll soon be taken over by mad doctors, and are wondering if we could get an explanation as to what the heck _is-goin'-on!_"

"Dang, boy, hold yo' horses," the orange cat responded, checking her nails. "We haven't even done introduced ourselves yet."

"Are you KIDDING me? We just got here, and then you show up, and-"

Sally placed a hand on the angry primate's shoulders. "Khan? Calm down. Breathe."

He momentarily paused his rant, inhaled, and exhaled deeply. He seemed to have calmed down. "Anyways, we just arrive in this place out of the blue, and you just act all calm and relaxed, like you were _expecting_ this?"

"Hun, before I met the other girls, ah was a spy. That means I can sneak inta places, extract info, and get mah tail out without gettin' caught. So, learnin' 'bout this whole plan they had goin'? Piece o' cake. All we had ta do was plan what ta do 'bout yourah ahrival and how to stop the bad guys. Then we execute, and boom! Done."

The yellow koala interrupted with a loud throat clearing. "Yes, her spy skills were very useful in this situation. So, anyway, introductions. I'm Marigold the Koala, the Demigoddess of Electricity and Optimism. This here is Orange Blossom the Cat, Demigoddess of Light and Health. And that-" She pointed to the flying hedgehog, who's body was now _flaming _as she took down opponents and was cheering loudly while doing so. "-is Poppy the Hedgehog, Demigoddess of Fire and War."

"I'M QUEEN OF THE WORLD, SUCKAS!" she whooped, barreling down ten mechs in one blast through the center of their suits with her flaming body.

"She's very… eccentric, about battles," Marigold commented.

"No kiddin'," I mumbled.

"Whoa, heads up, bros!" Poppy whirled, stopping a surprise missile attack from Snively's mech by simply extending the flames from her body a bit more to make a fire shield. We all ran outta sight, into a huge space away from the ruins that was surrounded by trees. We made brief intros to the new girls about ourselves, as I took a gander out of our temporary hiding spot. I could see Snively's nervous expression and trembling hands through the leaves of a fat bush and the shaded glass window as he spoke inaudibly through a com link attached to the control board. The henchman was probably calling for back-up instead of wanting to face us himself. Coward. I directed their attention to him briefly.

Once Poppy slightly extinguished herself to the point where we could see her face (Do not ask me how she managed to not set fire to the bushes she rushed through, because I still don't know, even at this point in time that the story is being told from.), she tipped her head in his direction. "Whaddya say? Do I go for it? Or do I wait for the fun to start?"

We all gave her either crazy looks or blank stares. "Uh…"

"We should wait, see if we can find any more data on his plans of world domination, Pop," Marigold spoke firmly. Poppy looked slightly depressed, but fell to the ground and extinguished herself. I noted to myself never to put anything flammable, like alcohol or matches, within her reach. _Ever_.

"So, explanations? You want them, you got them. What do ya need to-?"

"I just got in touch with the other Freedom Fighters. They're going to try to get here ASAP!" Ivy interrupted excitedly. We grinned and nodded approval at her, while the three newbies stared at her blankly.

"What is she talkin' 'bout?" Orange Blossom asked, curious as to know about what Ivy meant by other Freedom Fighters.

"Ivy's a telepath, so she can communicate with others. But, how were you able to get in touch with them from this long of a distance?" I explained/questioned.

"Well, since Wendell, Maroon, and I know each other so well, I created strong mental ties so we can access each other from any location globally. That way, we can talk to each other in case we need support or back-up, or if we just want to chat about private manners."

"Huh. I never knew that," I shrugged. "Anyways, I don't think I'm the only one wanting to know what happened with Robotnik's little 'trap' he put us into so we could travel to this island."

"Well, the jerk was tryin' ta lure you here to show some sorta big 'surprise' for one o' ya'll," Orange Blossom explained.

Pause.

"What is it?" Tails asked.

"Ah dunno. The file he was holdin' the info in on a computah hard drive was too heavily prutected, so I had ta skedaddle before I got anything more."

Pan widened her eyes, looking up at a shadow that had suddenly cast over us. "Uh, guys?"

We stared up at the darkened sky. A huge battleship was floating majestically above our heads. Suddenly, a high-pitched screech blasted inside my ears, and I slammed my eyes shut and clutched my furry ears. I opened one eye and saw the other girls reacting similarly. They seemed in agony, scratching at their ears and pinching their eyes together so tightly that they seemed like they had just stared directly at the sun for ten solid seconds. The other Freedom Fighters seemed unaffected by the horrible pain, and were staring at all of us like we were insane.

"Snowlily! What's wrong?" Wisp pushed, shaking her shoulder a bit. Snow pointed up at the ship.

"There are Shade Demons on that ship. They seem… different, and more powerful than the ones we've previously fought in battle," she groaned. Then, all at once, the resonating sound stopped.

"Huh. Weird," I moaned, recovering. I rubbed my head and watched as the others prepared themselves for battle. I copied.

Then-

"AAAAH!"

Pansy screamed a yell so out-of-the-blue and terrifying that goosebumps crawled onto my skin and shivers traveled up and down my spine. Her hands were once again pressed up against her temples, and she began writhing on the ground in torture, as if someone was shooting millions of volts into her body. Her once-confident face shriveled in hurt, and transformed into a completely new facial expression…

Rage.

Her presence filled me with fear all of a sudden, and a bruise-colored aura radiated around her body. The once-cheerful, purple eyes became molded into the whiteness of her eyes, and her dress became torn and shredded to pieces. Her baseball cap tore apart as wild streams of hair broke free of the cap, levitating around her darkened body. She giggled childishly.

"Um, Pan-?" Sonic attempted to make contact with the demigoddess, but she shook her head.

"This isn't talktime, sweetie: this is _**playtime**_." She took a step in his direction. He took a cautious step back.

"Um, is she usually like this?" Marigold gulped. I gave a slight shake of my head. Snowlily tightened her fists around two white ribbon-whips, and bared her teeth.

"She's been possessed."

Monkey Khan raised an eyebrow. "By what, exactly?"

"Not what. _Who. _It's the Dark Aurora Empress. The _real_ one."

Alyssum's jaw dropped. "Whaddya mean, the _real _one? Didn't we crush her to pieces with a stone statue back at the dragon god shrine?"

"We crushed her _robot duplicate_ at the shrine. She wouldn't just go out on a limb with nothing to expect and end up dying just like that. I didn't say anything until now, because the limited mind-control abilities she used from the cyborg's body kept me from relaying any info until now, since the mental connection has just been broken. And Ivy, since she has telepathic abilities, couldn't do or say anything without being at risk of possession or exposure."

Pan smiled mischievously. "Hmm, you are a clever girl, aren't you? It's too bad you are of your mother's blood, Ivy; we could've used you. But for now, let's get to the fun part of my day, shall we?"

"Exactly, what do you mean by that?" Poppy frowned, pointing her sword at possessed Pan.

"Killing you freaks," she hissed.

Poppy's eyes glittered with sorrow. "Aww. If you had said destroying robots or killing demons, I totally would've agreed and joined you."

I stared at her. Jeez, this girl needed to be on some sort of medication, or get some therapy for her violence.

Pan raised her hand eerily, and the earth under our feet began to rumble. She gave a creepy, Tails Doll-worthy smile. "Now, who wants to have some fun-?"

Her voice suddenly cut off, and she was frozen. Then, the possession suddenly seemed to lift, a sliver of dark energy leaving Pan's heart and rising into the air. She crumpled onto the ground, back to normal. Of course, minus the shredded dress and loose hair.

"Pansy!" Sonic exclaimed, and lifted her limp body into his arms. She opened her eyes slowly, looking up at Sonic. "What the hell just happened?"

"I agree with that question," Sonic smiled back down at her. She smirked, then tilted her head so she could catch a glimpse of the floating fortress above our heads.

"I-I heard the possessor say something about a plan of attack," Pan groaned, allowing Sonic to help her stand properly on her feet. "H-He said something about enchanted, stronger Shade Demons and stuff about swords. So, I'm concluding that we should expect demons holding swords to reign from the sky."

"That doesn't sound good," Tails gulped, watching the shadow in fear of a surprise attack.

"You know what, Tails? _That_ doesn't sound or look good."

All of us looked above our heads, following Pan's words, at the several, tiny figures beginning to fall from the bottom of the ship. As they descended downward, though, they were growing bigger. Like, three-stories-tall big. Hisses and roars battered against our eardrums.

"Holy, flaming mother of gods," Poppy whistled. "Pan was right. Look!" I squinted my eyes and my heart fell into my knees when I saw what Poppy meant. Each one of them was brandishing a sword probably as tall as the six and seven foot kids that went to my old middle school on Earth.

"Ohmygosh!" Aly squeaked. My fists balled tighter around my trident.

"Everyone, prepare yourselves. We are about to enter a war zone of blood-lusting demons, led a pair of mad, _mad _dictators." Sally's words rang in my head, and we nodded. "I'll take the Freedom Fighters. Azalea, you got the girls?" I nodded solemnly. "Alright. Tell your team what to do, and get prepared."

I gazed at my new friends, all of them wearing different reactions: fear, excitement, and power. Each of us were so different, yet so alike. It was hard to believe that if we were to survive this encounter, we were all to become friends.

"OK, girls. Although I've only known some of you for a few weeks, a few days, or a couple minutes, I would just like to thank you. I thank you because you've thrown yourselves willingly into the cause of fighting for freedom and justice, and saving others who needed to be saved. Being friendly, courageous, and full of life, showing all these factors to the people of this planet when they most need you is something I envy. Because, like Snively said, I am an extraterrestrial. On my world, I thought things were moderately peaceful compared to the war here on Mobius. I've learned so much, even with my short, two-week arrival. Now-" I twirled my trident around my fingers, and smiled. "-who's ready to kick some demon butt like a boss?"

A chorus of cheers and a "Hmph" from Snowlily followed. I could feel a new power surging inside of my heart, like an azalea about to blossom. At that moment, I concluded it was the forming of a demigoddess friendship.

"What's your plan?" Sally asked us, the other F.F. following her gaze. We all shared a smile.

"To work as a team, following a leader," Pan answered confidently, the once-evil smirk replaced with devilish jubilance.

"That's what I want to hear," she grinned back. I held my hand up, and she high-fived it.

"Let's do it to it!" Sonic roared. We followed in his cry, and made final preparations and chats. I nodded to all of them. They nodded back. I quickly saw Pan disappear, then reappear in under 20 seconds. She was blushing violently. Hmm…

"**KRAAAH!"**

Nearby, one of the many hunking demons thoomed into a palm tree beside us. Another slammed into a mango tree, and roared so loudly that the ripe fruit shuddered off the tree.

Holy crap, this was gonna be epic.


	26. Chapter 26

**GAH, mustloadchapter, mustloadchapter, GAH!**

**I think I got this up just in time. Uggh. Phew. Well, I hope everyone likes this huge chapter! (Yep, just a super short update this time; a miracle!) I think I got everything edited, and sorry if it's a bit sudden! Eh heh heh... Hope you like the punny pun...**

* * *

**Chapter 26**

**Why Not To Use A Fake Chaos Emerald (2/2)**

**Pansy's P.O.V.**

Holy crap, this was gonna be so freakin' epic.

After all of the… um… stuff that happened earlier, it felt really awesome to just concentrate on kicking some major robot ass. Why was this, you may ask?

Well, as you can recall from the last chapter, Azalea had described some major weird shenanigans happening between Sonic and I. And, as she had assumed at the time, she was right.

So, all of it started with Sonic saving me from the demons in the dragon shrine. My feet were still frozen from the freeze spell that Snowlily had put on Aly and I to capture us. I was unable to move or fight, which is why Sonic had to save me.

Yes, I will say it again and a thousand times over: I HATE being the damsel in distress.

So, once Sonic got me onto the high beam, just as hell broke loose, I was thanking him. Because, you know, he had just saved me from certain doom and such. He had given me a shrug in response. Then, the weirdest thing happened…

…Wait for it…

I kissed him. And no, not on the cheek, or the hand, but straight on the lips.

My first kiss.

So, yeah. After that uncomfortable occurrence, though, he was so stunned that he couldn't speak. All he was doing was stuttering and muttering to himself as he dropped back onto the floor to assist the others. The top of the ceiling wasn't well lit, so I didn't see his exact facial expression. I can imagine that it was really humiliating but hilarious.

But seriously, there was something about his emerald-green eyes that… I dunno. Maybe it was the cold getting to me.

As I sat up there for the little peaceful time I had, waiting and praying that I could still use my feet once they had thawed, my mind was racing. I realized what I had done. Confusion barraged my mind like bullets from a machine gun. On one hand, I thought, how could be so stupid? Randomly kissing one of the hugest names in the entire group of defenders on the planet? That was _not_ how to build a close relationship with a guy that you liked, just randomly kissing him. And now our relationship would be even more uncomfortable. On the other hand, though, it felt absolutely perfect (well, as perfect as we could be in the scenario we were in). We were alone, no one knew for sure about what happened between us, especially Sally, so was it just right in its own awkward way? Besides, I had followed Aly's advice, going after the one I thought was right for me. And it wasn't like it was overly romantic or gushy like other girls anticipate their first kiss to be. Just me giving him a small peck on his lips. Plus, we had plenty of other… _interesting_ moments before that one kiss. Was that one little thing going to affect us?

Skip forward to just before the us against towering demons battle, when I pulled Sonic over while the groups got strategies going. We were so quick that the Freedom Fighters didn't notice he had left. The two of us sped into a condensed circle of trees and bushes, where they couldn't hear us. We only had a small bit of time to talk, and it was time for me to apologize, because I had to say something to him.

"Sonic, I wanna apologize for what happened earlier," I stated bluntly, an odd feeling absorbing my cocky and heroic shell. I ignored the feeling and pressed on. "I-I just don't know what overcame me. I know that I just randomly kissed you out of the blue, but I hope that this doesn't affect our friendship. I really do. You're a nice guy and everything, and what I did there was completely unnecessary, so, um, yeah."

Don't I have such a poetic way with words?

He shrugged, blush beginning to wash over his cheeks. He coughed, cleared his throat, and responded with, "Nah, it's cool. Let's just try to forget it happened, then, and get on with it."

I sighed in relief, but I was also a bit surprised. He seemed to take that really well. I shrugged; that was Sonic the Hedgehog for you: Taking life so breezily, you thought a soft wind was tickling your neck. Plus, at least I thought the sigh I exhaled was meant to be for relief and not disappointment. Because, you know, why would it be disappointment? Heh heh…Sigh.

"We should probably head back, before they start wondering where we are," Sonic suggested, and I nodded. Maybe kicking some butt would take my mind off the whole emotion confusion state.

But before that, I was possessed by the stupid frickin' Dark Aurora Empress.

So, let me try and describe what it felt like to go through that whole thing. Once she had possessed me, something odd inside me forced myself to succumb to her. I had no idea what it was, but when I let myself be possessed, a void in my soul seemed to fill. I felt happy, happy to hold so much power, so much destruction, and to release so much anger. Through her possession, anger had taken the wheel, and I flowed with it. It was surprisingly horrifying. Yes, for one of the few times in my life, I was scared. Scared of this new power that felt so wrong, but so good. So damn good to just release all the bottled-up emotions. I guess you could call her possession a "guilty pleasure".

At that time, I wondered what Sonic thought of me. That thought sure put me in a chipper mood.

Anyways, back to the beginning of the fight.

**KREEOAR!**

We all stared up at the first demon to arrive, an ugly thing with four arms, three fingers per hand, and feet with four toes. Black ooze dripped off its body and mouth (which made it seem like it had a severe case of gingivitis), and the slime sizzled and killed the plants it dripped on. The demon bellowed so loudly, that I felt like my eardrums were about to implode. Azalea was staring in Ivy's direction, and Ivy turned and nodded. It was probably Ivy's telepathic skills that allowed the two to communicate. Because, soon after Ivy nodded, the green mongoose had drawn a sleek, silver arrow and nocked it. The arrow flew, and landed in the dead center of the demon's chest, burying deep into its jet-black flesh. The demon roared, and tumbled onto its hands and knees. It let out a weak cry before disappearing in a cloud of black dust.

"Here they come!" Sally cried, as a dozen more pummeled into the ground beside us. We leapt into action, fighting back at the towering nightmares with our weapons, skills, and what-not. Over all the ruckus, there was one voice I heard that penetrated the roaring and screaming: Azalea's. Her strong voice shouted out commands, warnings, and advice to all of us. I was quite surprised; she seemed to be in more control now, after just meeting three of our members and only living on Mobius for two weeks, than a senior general who had been working on the battlefield for over 50 years. She seemed completely focused on the goal of beating these creepy monsters, while also fighting her own portion of demons. So she was really talented in leading us. And of course, all teams need a good leader in order to succeed.

My attention on thinking of Azalea's leadership while stabbing a demon with shards of igneous rock broke a few minutes after the fight began. I heard Aly's scream pierce the air, and twisted my head in the direction of the scream. She had dropped to the floor like a stone after the demon whipped out a tentacle (that had sprung out of its back quite suddenly) and slapped her right leg with it.

"Pan, get Aly!" Azalea screamed, pushing her trident deep into another demon's toe.

I nodded and dodged the stomping feet of other demons to reach Aly's side. A dark shadow cast over her, as a palm tree began to tumble through the air, directly toward her. Aly held up a hand, and screamed something, a blast of wind stopping the tree from crashing onto her. Her body was quivering, her face twisted in pain and the cuts and bruises from our earlier kidnapping ran up and down the length of her entire body. I only realized then how she never had a chance to rest for two days. The entire time that we were kidnapped in that damn prison, she had stayed awake and tried to repair my foot. Plus, the freezing and beatings we had taken from the shrine conflict hadn't done anything to help her either. I had gotten a boost off the fake Chaos Emerald that had stored some real Chaos Energy, and it gave me a boost of strength. Aly didn't get nothing, and she had the feeling of tiredness and plum-colored circles under her eyes to prove it.

In a swift motion, the poor bat was in my arms, collapsed from exhaustion, and the tree had slammed into the earth behind us. I held out my free right hand, and a small tunnel underground appeared. Hoping for some refuge from the fight, I jumped inside the hole and tumbled into a snug room. The dirt walls weren't "homey", but the room did protect us so I could see what had happened to poor Aly.

"P-Pan?" she grunted, lifting her head. Gently, I placed her onto the dirt floor, and moved down to where I her right shin. The moment I glanced at her injury, I felt nauseated. It looked disgusting and painful. Red blood poured out of the opened wound, and formed a puddle on the dirt she was laying on. The cut had her skin a deep black color, glaring in contrast to her gum-pink fur. Her face paled when she saw the wound, but slowly began to glow a questionable green. Shakily, her hand pointed at the cut. "Wh-what is that?"

"I don't know, but it doesn't look like any cut I've seen before," I responded, biting my bottom lip. From what I knew, we didn't have any medicines or bandages to help if we received any injuries. My mind wound, trying to find an immediate solution for helping her. Of course, I was no doctor, but it looked like this gash could become a fatal if it wasn't looked at immediately.

"P-Pan?" Aly's voice was a small breeze, quiet and almost impossible to hear. "Am I going to die?"

I blinked a few times. She was staring at me. Her cheerful eyes had grown grim, hollow, and worrisome. I shook my head.

"You are not gonna die. Not under my watch, bro. Now, do you know of any plants or something that might help?"

"Ah do."

A Southern-accented voice made me pivot on my kneeling feet, and I stared up at Orange Blossom, the kitty we met earlier. She knelt beside me as well, staring at the wound. Her wavy, ginger locks trickled over her face, as her lit eyes flickered over the injury. After a few moments, she frowned.

"This looks like a serious burn, gals. 'Ow did she git it?"

"One of those demons slapped me with some tentacle that had sprung from its back," Aly gulped, wincing as Bloss lifted her leg up to examine.

"That makes sense. Sonic, Sally, 'n Poppy have been gettin' similar mahks on their bodies after spin-dashin' and flamin' through their bodies. Maybe their skin holds a certain toxic property unknown to modurn dermatologists that gives out these violent burns to any livin' thing that lays a fingah on 'em."

"Wow. How do you know so much about this doctor-stuff, anyway?"

She rolled her eyes and crossed her hands over her chest. "When I lived in mah hometown, I was the best doctah in the whole city. Plus, I'm the Demigoddess of Health, so ya know, it kinda makes sense." She pulled off her fingerless gloves, and placed her hands over Aly's wound. She winced, tears rising to her eyes.

My right eyebrow raised. "Hey, what are you-?"

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to finish my question. The light from the sun seemed to direct its light upon Blossom's face, and her eyes opened suddenly, flashing a sunset-orange light around the tunnel. Her voice, eerie and quite creepy, echoed a chant in the tunnel walls:

_Oh, ancient Auroroian gods,_

_Hear my cry of anguish,_

_Allow this cursed wound to be removed from her body,_

_Never again to be filled with the ways of the hated and the dangerous._

Blossom recited this chant five times, each time getting louder and louder. Once she finished her prayer, the brilliant light died, and I gawked at Aly's leg. There wasn't a single trace of the wound.

Aly seemed just as amazed as I was. "How were you able to do that?" She stepped on to her feet, cautiously, and jumped up and down. She seemed fine, and the circles from under her eyes were gone. Aly had been recharged.

"You girls have yo' talents, I have mine," Blossom smirked.

"AAAAAH!"

The three of us immediately responded to the sudden scream by leaping from the hole, and seeing what everyone was staring at in distress. Ivy was being squeezed to death by a demon's top right hand, her bow and arrow laying on the ground, snapped like a twig. She struggled against the iron grip, and smoke began to sizzle from her body. This caused more screaming.

"Git her outta there! The demons' skin is highlah toxic!" Blossom roared at the stunned members. The others stared at us, when suddenly-

"DON'T. TOUCH. MY. GIRLFRIEND!"

A familiar and very pissed-off roar shattered our ears. Wendell, the crazy bat he was, sped at the demon like a bullet, eyes flashing with fury. He brought out his two tomahawks, and threw them at the demon's wrist. The hideous beast screeched in hurt, immediately releasing Ivy's unmoving body, and grabbing its injured hand with its remaining three. He swooped downward in an arc and caught Ivy's body just before it hit the grass. Black burns, similar to Aly's, were flashing on her limp figure. Blossom rushed over to the couple, probably ready to heal her. The demon, on the other hand, had become quite angry at Wendell for slicing deep into his wrist. He bellowed, the scream shaking the ground and our eardrums. A surprising pair of whirring of chopper blades sounded in all of our ears, and we turned up to see the remaining Freedom Fighters inside the flying _Freedom Fighter Special_. Bunnie toted Amy and Maroon down to the ground with her, and Dodge used Chaos Control to appear beside them. Antoine nodded soberly at us through the helicopter mirror.

"Howdy," Bunnie greeted us, placing the two fighters on the grass gently before landing on the ground. She and Amy stared around at the scene nervously, and I noticed Amy grip her Piko Hammer tighter.

Maroon took a quick, uninterested gander at all the immense demons staring at us with pure hatred. "Well, this all seems like hell on Mobius. So, what are we up against here?"

"Robotnik, some organization of birds called the Battle Bird Armada, and an army of bigger, deadlier Shade Demons with toxic skin," Sally briefly summarized.

"Hmm. Interesting. Well, let's get started!" Dodge grinned, punching his left fist into his right palm.

"Amy, Bunnie, you two and Antoine are with me," Sally ordered. "Dodge and Maroon, you two and Wendell will be working with the Elemental Demigoddesses and Wisp."

The two guys looked over at the nine of us. Dodge gave a salute, and Maroon grinned.

"Cool. New bros for me to hang with."

"Crap, guys, MOVE!"

Wendell's warning snapped us out of chit-chat mode and reverted us back into die-villains-die mode. Again, we resumed with beating up our opponents, but there was a twist to this battle: We weren't killing the demons fast enough. More and more of them just kept raining from the sky, at a rate as to where Ivy exclaimed (her healing by Blossom was a success, and the three guys and three new girls briefly introduced themselves a little way into the fight) that even she couldn't understand how quickly these things kept coming. By the way, if a girl who's IQ is almost at a 300 can't come up with an answer to that question, then something is wrong.

After almost an hour of battle, we had barely made a dent in their ranks. All of us were wearing thin, tiring, and struggling to keep up. Nothing was getting these things to slow down; not Amy's rapid hammering, not Poppy's billowing wildfires, Ivy's vine constrictors, my earthquakes, Wisp's and Dodge's combined Chaos Blasts. Nothing was working.

Azalea glanced at Sally, dirt masking her once-calm and slight black burns singeing the tips of her blue braid. "This isn't working. We need to come up with another strategy besides fighting on the ground, since this isn't doing anything to weaken them. And besides, this island's gonna be a wasteland if this battle continues like this!"

She had a point; the plants on the island were burnt to the ground, courtesy of Poppy's pyrokinesis, and the once-beautiful area had become, smoked, barren, bullets (courtesy of Antoine using the machine gun implanted in the _Freedom Fighter Special_) and littered with ashes.

Sally furrowed her brows, her face deep in thought. She shook her head, and pounded her fist into her hand. "Everyone, round up and get inside the _Special_. Once we're in, I want a list of every single Mobian who can fly out of all of us. Now, move!"

We all climbed into the condensed room, which was luckily able to fit all of us, and the chopper took off. We had listed everyone who could fly, and also carry others: Bunnie, Tails, Poppy, Marigold (she apparently could create use lightning to launch herself into the sky, and blast herself around at, well, the speed of lightning), Blossom (she could create solar fairy wings, and soar by fluttering them), Aly, Wendell, and Monkey Khan. Sally paired off the fliers with the grounders: Bunnie and her, Tails and Amy, Poppy and Snow, Marigold and Maroon, Blossom and Ivy, Aly and I, Wendell and Wisp, and Monkey Khan and Dodge. Antoine stayed inside the craft, and would show any assistance needed. Sonic was paired into a trio with Aly and I, as well as Azalea with Blossom and Ivy. My heart sank down to my sneakers when I heard Sonic was with us, and Aly rubbed my back. No one noticed my anxiety, luckily.

Sal explained that half of the groups were going to stay at the level we were at, fighting off the airborne demons to keep them from destroying the island any farther. The other half would go up to the ship, and disable all the demons in one fell swoop. How, you may ask?

Well, while Bloss was healing Aly's leg in the tunnel, Ivy had somehow managed to sneak behind a demon and see something. An odd-looking computer chip had been installed in the demon's head. That was how the demon had seen and caught hold of her. Ivy said that there would probably be a main switch inside the ship, that might disable all the demons in just a moment. We all decided to hope for the best in Ivy's explanation.

We all approached the door, beside our partner (well, in my case, partners), and watched as Sally grabbed the door handle and slammed it open. Cold wind blasted our faces, and we all stumbled back. Falling demons glared at us as they fell, pointing and screeching. Sally screamed "GO!", and we all jumped out of the craft. Aly caught Sonic and I in miniature tornadoes, which we could both fly and battle in. We were one of the groups ordered to go up to the huge airship, so we flew upward in determined silence, past the demons trying to attack us as they freefell down to the island. My eyes stung with the brisk blowing, and we finally flew above the ship.

"Watch it!" Sonic advised, pointing at an army of robots on the ship's surface's plane runway. Alarmed, the team of 'bots began violently shooting at us with machine and laser guns. Aly placed us on the concrete airstrip, and raised her hands to attack. Before she could show any signs of elemental muscle, though, a burst of small lightning bolts snaked and looped within the army, reducing every active robot to a pile of singed ash. The three of us whirled on our heels, and saw Marigold, the one who could manipulate electrical-related things, with pupil-less eyes, puffed-out blonde hair, and bent fingers. Sparks and bolts burst from her body, but the electricity soon died away, and she reverted back to how she looked when we first met her.

"I'm making a note to myself, saying to never let you near any electrical appliance, under any circumstance," I commented, readjusting my cap. She rolled her eyes cheerfully, and Maroon stood behind her, gawking. I stifled a laugh, which he noticed, and he coughed awkwardly into his hand. And I wondered to myself, why was he blushing?

I took a glance around and saw the rest of the pairings beside us, a little "shocked" (heh heh…), too. All of the demigoddesses were here, as well as Sonic and Maroon, the two teen guy-hedgehogs of the teams.

"Does anyone happen to see a door? Or maybe a vent?" Azalea asked, searching around for an entrance. We looked around for a few moments when-

**ZWEE-ZWEE-ZWEE-ZWEE…**

Concrete chunks flew into the air as Sonic spin-dashed into the floor, creating a hole in the ground that was big enough fro the rest of us to jump through. His head popped out of the floor, and he smirked at our surprised faces.

"Heh, that's a good look for you guys. Now get down here. I'll be waaaiting."

He hopped back down, and we all took a glance at each other. We gave a shrug and followed him one by one down the hole.

I was the last one to enter the new passage, and saw the others crowded around a complicated-looking control panel. Colorful buttons and gray switches coated the front of the room's walls and ceiling. A huge plasma screen sat hung from some cables and displayed a security cam. The cameras were soon clicked away from, and taping lead to a new program opening.

"Whoa, is this the control room?" I wondered, peering over Snow's shoulder to get a glance of what Ivy was doing. Her silver-gloved hands clicked rapidly against a keyboard.

"Yes, it is. I'm trying to see if I can hack Robotnik's main computer database, search through his memory files, and extract any useful information we could use to figure out how to kill the demons, or where a switch on these walls of controls is located so we can shut down all of them."

"You guys are lucky Ivy toned her explanation down to our intelligence level," Maroon interrupted, leaning against a switch-free wall. "When we first met her and went on missions together, you couldn't understand half of the tech talk she was spewing."

"Shut it, Maroon. Now, what would his password for file access be…?"

I turned around and wandered the small room. A large filing cabinet caught my interest, so I snapped off the lock and opened the top drawer, hoping to find useful info. My fingers danced over the alphabetized folders A-L. Nothing of any use, except a bunch of old robot designs and computer passwords.

"Hell-o," I murmured, yanking out the file, and flipping through a stack of yellow pages. I found what we were looking for. "Ah-ha! Got it!"

Ivy moved out of geek mode for a moment, and stared. "What?"

"Yeah. It says, that the password to Main Computer E-GG is 'KILL SONIC', in all caps. It can't be that easy, though, can it?" Ivy frowned, and went back into geek mode.

The cobalt hedgehog grimaced after I said the password. "Eesh, he really doesn't like me, does he?"

Snow stared at him, unamused. "You are his most wanted criminal, belong to the biggest rebelling force on Mobius, and are his arch-nemesis."

He shrugged, and jokingly winked. "Eh, you gotta do what ya gotta do."

That earned him a major eyeroll from Snow. "Ken was right about you being an arrogant show-off, I suppose."

"I'm in!" Ivy exclaimed, interrupting their argument. "I got to the right file, using the exact same password, except it said to kill Sally. Now, let's see here…"

The cursor moved over a small paragraph of text, which I couldn't read from where I was standing. I did see a huge picture of the demons that we were battling earlier, and which some of the others were still battling outside.

"OK. So, let's see here…"

Ivy stepped up from the huge, levitating chair she sat in (probably belonged to Robotnik), and moved her fingers around the right wall of switches.

"Look for a black key hung from a silver wire," she advised us, and we began searching as well.

"Found it!" Aly exclaimed after five seconds. She tossed it to Ivy, and Ivy looked back at the instructions.

"Oh no," she whispered.

"What's wrong, honey?" Blossom gulped.

"The system to deactivate the demons is in Room BOT."

Marigold shrugged. "So? What's the dealio?"

"The security footage showed that Robotnik, Snively, and a television were inside the room, along with some robot guards."

The yellow koala grew quiet. "Oh. Well, is there another way?"

Ivy shook her head. Azalea nodded solemnly. "Then we go in, attack, and make sure those things are shut down for good. That's the only solution we have."

All the girls looked a bit uneasy at the thought. I stared at them, stunned. Um, who were they, and what happened to the awesome and braves bros I had known only a few minutes ago. "Oh, good grief. What the hell are all of you so terrified about?"

Snow looked up quietly. "Pansy, we're about to go into a room that holds the world dictator, who can call back-up at any point in time, and who happens to rule the planet. We could be killed, or worse, Roboticized."

"Are you serious? You're afraid to go after Robotnik? You're demigoddesses! You were, basically, born to do this! You're half freakin' _god_. And if my name means an insult someone who is weak, helpless and _afraid_, and I'm braver than you, then that is just downright _pathetic_. Plus, think of all the residents of the island who aren't even involved with this battle. How do you think they feel?"

"Couldn't agree with you more, Pan, and I'm not even half god." Maroon stepped up to my right, and crossed his arms.

"Ditto. I've been battling him ever since I was, like, 8, and I wasn't afraid then." Sonic joined by my left side, nodding at me.

"So, who you gonna be? Cowards? Or heroes?"

They stared at me, a bit shaken. At once, they nodded, becoming a bit more lighthearted. I grinned. "Thanks for getting back your senses. Now, Lea, what's the plan?"

* * *

"It's awfully amusing, watching them fight for their lives down there," Robotnik murmured to himself. I glared down at him from the top of the vent. Marigold, Bloss, and Sonic were sitting beside me, awaiting the signal.

The door to the observing room opened, and two hooded slaves walked in, awkwardly. The lead one crossed his arms over his chest in an X, and bowed. "Master, I have come with some important news."

"Eh? What?"

I smiled, seeing the glint of green sneakers from under the cloak of the talking one. He lifted his hood, and smiled. "Eat plasma blast, sucker." He threw off the cloak, and zapped Snively in the face with one of his guns. He toppled over, unconscious and his face burning. Ow.

"Ivo? What the deuce is going on?" an elderly man's voice screeched from the screen. The old man was a yellow-orange owl in swirly pink glasses, a red cloak, and a white beard, squinting at the room. He jumped back when he noticed Maroon.

"Call off your troops, and we'll call off the ones we sent after you," he grimaced, holding the pistol to Robotnik's head. Poppy and Ivy removed their cloaks, and stepped next to Maroon. Poppy drew her sword and held it to his stomach, and Ivy aimed an arrow at his head.

The owl froze. "I-impossible! You don't know where our location is!"

"You really wanna test that, old man? Right after my friends and I just ninja'd our way into this place? I don't think so."

He gulped, and nodded. "F-fine. Robotnik, I will contact you later."

The screen bleeped off, and the three turned their gaze on Robotnik. Marigold waved her hand, and the rest of us hopped down from the vents and ceiling tiles.

"How did you get in?" Robotnik growled, and Maroon pulled out his second pistol, pushing it into the mad doctor's mouth.

"Say another word. I dare ya."

Silence from the evil man.

Ivy walked up to a computer on the coffee table Robotnik was using earlier, as the rest of us guarded him to make sure he didn't call for back-up. There was no sound except for the battle outside, demon roars, and clicks of Ivy's fingers against keys.

"Got it?" Azalea asked after five tense minutes.

"Almost… Yes!" Ivy cheered, clicking the Enter key. A small stand with a lock popped out, and Ivy placed the key into the lock and turned it. Robotnik moaned in terrified distress, and a small red light next to the lock turned green. There was a loud chorus of demonic cries, then silence.

"We did it!" Aly cheered, flipping in the air. We backed off the astonished Robotnik, and began partying. Sonic and Maroon began break-dancing, Aly spun in rapid circles in the air, and the others danced or nodded to express their happiness (in Snow's case). I stood in the midst of all the celebration, and noticed the mad doctor speaking into his comlink.

"Dude, if you're still trying to summon back-up, knock it off. We won."

He glared at me, gritted teeth grinding together. "You idiot! Don't you realize what you've done? The only reason I invented that stupid device was because, if the demons couldn't kill you, I could destroy all the demons, this ship and you, the Freedom Fighters, without a trace using the self-destruct mechanism I secretly installed within the demons' bodies and within the ship!"

The celebration screeched to a halt. Everyone turned their heads toward him, and screamed, "WHAT?!"

He seemed to be at a cross between a feeling of being victorious and a complete, epic failure. The failure was because his powerful demons weren't able to do the job and that we won the fight, but victorious because it meant the whole island and every living thing on it going up in smoke. Including all of the Freedom Fighters.

"NUCLEAR SELF-DESTRUCT SEQUENCE INITIATED. T-MINUS 5 MINUTES."

We watched, horror-struck, as Robotnik hopped into an escape pod, and grinned at us through the blue-shaded window. He launched into the air, and blasted away, leaving only a glitter of the shiny pod's metal behind.

Sonic meekly remarked, "This might be an understatement, but: Crap."

"We gotta get out of here!" Azalea cried, pulling out her trident. She threw it at the glass window so hard that the glass shattered and dented some of the metal borders. The trident, luckily, had fallen onto the metal ground in front of us. Azalea grabbed it as we leaped out of the ship, and doubled/tripled up with our flying buddies. The other fighters looked up at us. At first, they grinned, but then noticed the blaring sirens and our grim facial expressions. Lea screamed at them over the wind to follow them to the edge of the ocean, and they did.

Once Lea finished explaining everything to the others, they looked just as terrified and bleak as we were.

"We should've known it was a damn trick the entire time," Wisp growled.

"Well, not time for regrets. I have a plan to save the islanders. I don't know how we're going to dispose of the giant nuclear ship, but getting rid of the demons to protect the innocents should be our top priority. So, everyone, get onto the island and find every whole demon body you can find and drag it back here!"

Just to put it out there: Ew. It was incredibly disgusting, having to drag their huge corpses to the shore. Well, actually, Bunnie, Wisp, Dodge, Aly, and I did most of the dirty work, what with carrying their bodies with our strength/magical abilities. The others just located them. I noted to myself to take a good, hot shower when and if we got off this island.

"OK, now what?" I panted, wiping sweat off my brow. I had been careful not to touch their skin to avoid getting burned, as well as the others. So, all that was left was grime and sweat.

"Aly, we need to get every body up to the ship. And since you have the elemental ability of air, we need you to do your best to get every one of 'em up there, and quickly."

Aly nodded, and cracked her knuckles. She pumped her wings into the air, and opened her hands with closed eyes. A strong current of wind lifted up the bodies, and in under 30 seconds, the bodies were lifted onto the ship. Aly stumbled back down, breathless and trembling.

"Um, what the hell did that accomplish?" I asked, supporting Aly.

"The corpses are off the island, away from the residents, and the two groups can explode together, causing less harm to the residents than the ship's nuclear blast might. They can explode together, so that only the radiation waves will harm the things on this island."

"So, what do we do about the ship?" Maroon grimaced. Azalea sighed.

"Honestly? I have no freaking clue."

Ken threw his arms up. "So, that's it? We just let it explode and all the residents get poisoned by nuclear radiation."

Lea put her head in her hands, rubbing her sooty face. "I'm sorry, guys, but I'm not finding an immediate solution. And, I'm just not seeing one. Is there anyone who is?"

Everyone became silent. I shook my head, not believing what I was hearing. "Guys, there has to be a way! There just has to be! All of these Mobians are depending on us. We can't just sit here and think; we need to take action! Right now!"

My necklace began to glow a really bright color and everyone stopped dead in their tracks.

"What's going on?" Tails and Amy gulped, backing away slowly.

My brows furrowed. "I don't-"

"Look! It's happening to me, too!"

Poppy pointed at her fire-shaped charm. In fact, all of their charms were beginning to radiate a blinding light. Scattered exclamations and whispers darted throughout our friends. The glow was so intense that we had to shield our eyes to keep from going blind. Then a familiar feminine voice echoed in all of our minds.

_You know what to do, girls. Save them now._

_Let your hearts become one._

"Yes Mother," we all spoke in unison. More exclamations. With one hand, each of us grasped our necklace charm, burning such a hot light that it probably would've turned our hands to a degree 3 burn if not for the mysterious protection surrounding our bodies. And with the other, we raised our weapons high as they began to glow with our necklace. Like magic, the weapons disappeared, leaving our hand with a ghastly glow.

Suddenly, we all leapt into the air, toward the ship. I glanced down and noticed I left a brilliant velvet-purple trail of color across the sky. The others seemed to leave behind their own trails as well.

Huh, we were a rainbow.

Together, we blasted towards the ship, and floated together, side-by-side. We released our charms, and bound our hands together. My hand tightened around Azalea's on my left and Aly's on my right, with Marigold and Ivy next to Azalea, and Poppy's, Blossom's, and Snow's beside Aly. Power began to well inside all of us. We became one.

"ULTIMATE HURRICANE WHISKER!"

Powerful roars of wind suddenly burst from us, attacking the ship and gusting it high into the sky. As it climbed higher, each of us added our own element to blast it away further. Soon, eight blasts of fire, water, lightning, vines, ice, sunlight, earth, and wind had blasted the ship so high, we couldn't even see it any more. There was a sudden and massive explosion, orange and red light forcing us to shield our eyes.

The ship was gone. Robotnik was defeated.

We had won the battle.


	27. Chapter 27

**Ha ha! Chapter posted! My summer schedule shan't deny me!**

**Hey-o, everybody, hope you are all doin' fine. I've been workin' hard on my first week of drama camp, and feel a bit sore right now. But it's a good sore!**

**Anywhoo, just a few notes. I was wondering which backstory ya'll wanted me to describe first after this 3 chapter party arc is finished: Snowlily's (in depth, since you got a taste of what her life was like if you read previous chapters), Marigold's, Orange Blossom's, or Poppy's. Let me know in the comments! Also, I was planning on writing a short story focused mainly on one of the characters. Let me know which one you would like to see me write about.**

**And is anyone else psyched to read about/watch videos/see what's a-happenin' at Comic Con? I won't be going, but I hope they have stuff about _Sonic Lost World _and _Smash Bros._! Whoo! :D**

**Anyways, onward, my readers! ~Core~**

**P.S. Apologies to Pansy. You'll see why once you read the chap'...**

* * *

**Chapter 27**

**Relaxation and Calm (Almost…)**

**Azalea's P.O.V.**

"_In a stunning course of events, Dr. Robotnik's latest scheme has been foiled yet again by the Freedom Fighters. The latest news feed has shown us as to how Robotnik nearly succeeded at nuking and poisoning three islands and their residents, located in the western Mobian Seas called the Cocoa Islands, creating a toxic rift that would've eventually spread through all the Mobius's oceans. The poisonous lead would've ended up killing all life forms inside the waters, and eventually, the living creatures on the land through seafood and radiation spreading. Robotnik's takeover would've become much easier, if not for the fighters blasting the ship far into space, so the explosion only affected the cold, dark void of space. _

"_Another awe-inspiring story, a new group of Freedom Fighters have made themselves known internationally. These sudden, new arrivals assisted the New Mobotropolis Freedom Fighters and a few other trained combatants from New Mobotropolis and the Dragon Kingdom in ending the diabolical plans the evil lord had in his mind, by literally blasting away his nuclear airship and the wired, demonic, minion corpses. This group, the Elemental Demigoddesses, as they titled themselves, are a group of eight teenage women who are hypothesized to be demigods controlling eight separate elements. Statements and personal information on these girls or their four male companions have yet to be released, but much more information will be uncovered tonight at the official welcoming ceremony taking place in New Mobotropolis. Live footage will be shown tonight at nine._

"_Continuing with our top story, residents of the main island, where the events were taking course, were safely evacuated and reintroduced to their homes. The Freedom Fighters helped repair the damage caused in their skirmish, as well as flying back to Stormtop Village, located within the Dragon Kingdom, and repairing damage done to a dragon god shrine, an earlier battlefield to Robotnik and an unknown threat. Nothing is yet has been confirmed about the new force working beside Robotnik at the dragon shrine, but a new piece of info has been identified. A terrorist organization called the Battle Bird Armada had assisted the mad doctor. Their whereabouts, though, are currently unknown._

"_I am Samantha Cat, and this is Channel 12's Live at Five."_

The news cast ended and turned to an old soap opera. Amy clicked off the TV with the remote just as a pink chameleon dashed out of a green house, sobbing, and flopped back against the beat-up, green couch in the Freedom HQ main room. She seemed just as dazed as the rest of us were.

"At least people know about us now," Pan muttered, uncrossing her legs and flopping back against the pink carpet.

I took a tired glare at her, and brushed some sky-blue bangs out of my face. All of us were utterly exhausted, after fixing up the houses on Cocoa Island, flying on the _Special _back to Stormtop Village, apologizing to the Li's about the trouble and dropping off Monkey Khan with them (Li Moon gave a tearful good-bye to Wisp and Snowlily, and Li Yuen said that he understood the troubles we caused, while Khan and the two natives exchanged emotional good-byes), fixing up the _Hurricane_, and heading back home. We came back to the HQ at eleven at night and gave a brief explanation to Snow, Marigold, Poppy, Blossom, and Wisp on the city directions with Nicole's full-scale map before flopping onto our beds and getting some sleep (Maroon, Dodge, Wisp, and Wendell had ended up sleeping on the couches and the floor, since we were too tired to find them rooms). All of us slept to at least ten the next day, before we decided to drag ourselves out of bed and face the day. Bluebell, who had no idea what we had been through and had no idea who the new Mobians were, had been courteous enough to help us awake and make an awesome breakfast of blueberry waffles, which were a delicacy. And then, she guided us all to the television and clicked on the screen.

And the day had begun with a newscast on the recent, chaotic events. Whoopee.

I fingered my necklace nervously, thinking about what had happened and letting all of it sink in. It was quite difficult to do. Fighting those foes had made us physically exhausted, especially the other girls and I, since we had drained our remaining energy in the powerful attack that whisked away the nuclear time bomb. And mentally, we were all still scratching our heads at a couple of things, Like, where was the real Dark Aurora Empress? How were those huge new demons created? How did we perform that attack?

"Questions, questions, questions," I murmured to myself.

"What?" Tails asked, bursting my thought bubble.

"Er, nothing. Just thinking, is all," I stuttered.

He shrugged. "Anyways, shouldn't we be making preparations to the party? Like, speeches, what we're gonna say…"

"OMG! We need to buy dresses!" Marigold exclaimed, hopping onto her feet. "We can't just go to a party in regular clothing!"

We all stared at her openly. There was total silence. She was worried about outfits when we had to tell the general public about demons and violence and such? Sheepishly, she realized her interruption, apologized, and plopped back down onto the pink carpet.

Pan crossed her arms, and rolled her eyes. "Glad you have your priorities set. And there is no way any of you are getting me in a dress. Plus, don't we have to worry about how we tell Mobians about what happened on the island and all the dark demons and magic and such?"

"You're both right," Ivy reasoned, flipping over on her tummy to look at the purple fox and yellow koala. She flicked some carpet fuzz out of her arm fur and continued, "We should figure out how we can gently inform the news of the Dark Aurora Empire to the general public without freaking them out with the dark magic that seems to have come alive from a storybook, but we should also wear proper clothes, since this is a celebration and we need to make a good first impression on Mobius. Like the news anchor said, the interview with the presses will be shown internationally."

Pan moaned, and flopped back on her back. "Can't I just wear a tuxedo or something…?"

"No! You're a girl! Act like it!" Aly giggled. Pan rolled her eyes once more, and flopped her face into the floor, groaning loudly. The others smirked, and Sonic, Maroon, and Dodge chortled.

"Don't you guys go laughing; you'll have to dress in fancy wear, too," Sally informed the two hedgehogs and fox. They immediately froze, then hung their heads over in depression.

"No…" they groaned in unison.

Sally gave a small smile. "Anyways, all of us should start to get ready for the party. Although it is only ten in the morning, we probably will have to plan on what to say and how to say it gently. So, maybe we'll wait till about one to meet back here and decide on what to say. But for now, I'm pretty sure that all eight of you girls and maybe some of the other fighters need to go shopping for clothes."

Marigold's eyes sparkled like one of her electrical attacks as she leapt into the air, screaming, "Yip-EEE!"

The girls' moods seemed to brighten at the thought of going shopping. I had no problem with buying a nice dress for the festivity, so I was fairly excited as well.

"Does anyone have something I can use to kill myself?" Pan grunted, talking through the carpet.

Marigold grinned, and lifted Pan's right arm into her own hands. "You're a demigoddess, Pan. You're much harder to kill than a normal Mobian. Now suck it up, and let's go shopping for some sweet new dresses!"

The electric koala hefted Pan up and began to eagerly drag her out of the door. Pan wore a hilariously irritated face, and the ground under our feet seemed to tremor. "Mari, let me go."

"No. You'll probably just go run off and go to a shop where they sell comics or sports gear. I know what kind of a Mobian you are, Pan, and you can't escape the fact that you are going to be girly. And, yes, you can call me by my nickname. Thanks for asking."

"_Mari…_" Pan sighed, easily yanking Mari's grip off her arm (thanks to her enhanced diamond bone structure and super strength) and crossing her arms, angrily. "Fine. I'll go."

The girls smiled at Pan, and I could easily see the misery written all over her face. She brushed some of her bangs out of her eyes, and mouthed to the guys, _Help me_. They shrugged, and chuckled to themselves. A glare came from the purple fox's face, and she soon made a rude gesture to them seconds after their unhelpfulness. All of us gave a small laugh at her reaction.

"Anyhow, I suspect you boys well be preparing yourselves as well, right?" Sally asked, brushing some of her red hair back.

The dudes looked at each other, questionably. Only Antoine nodded. "Yes, mah preencess. I shall honor your request, as well as the others will."

"Good, Antoine; thank you. Now, shouldn't we get moving?"

* * *

"Ah! Look at this nice, purple dress over here! Isn't it pretty, Pan?"

"Mmph."

Marigold took a glare at the purple fox, stubbornly leaning against a rack of clean sailor skirts and shirts. Mari hung the ankle-length, sleeveless gown back on the rack, and sighed. "Pan, you could at least attempt to have some fun."

"That'll be the day," Pan grumped. I laughed nervously, and went back to examining a teal dress that would reach my knees, with ruffles decorating the short sleeves and hems. The eight of us demigoddesses, plus Sally, Bunnie, Amy, and Bluebell, were all shopping inside New Mobotropolis Central Mall (_Geez, is there _anything_ this city doesn't have?_ I thought to myself.), at a cozy shop called Mob-ustice (a combo of the words "Mobius" and "justice"). White walls with marble flooring lined the room, and pictures of teen Mobius girls lined the white space. Colorful signs read about back-to-school sales and sales on educational-image sweaters and tees. (I found it hard to believe that autumn was in three days!) A song by Mina and the Forget-Me-Knots blared in the store, giving it a modern and girlish appeal. It felt almost like Justice back home, except for Mobians and aimed more at the older teen crowd.

"Alright, whaddya think?" Amy smiled, hopping out of the dressing room for the nineteenth time. This time around she wore a bright white dress with red lace embroidering the back, a pair of chic black boots, and a sparkly red bow on top of her head.

"Hmm…" Blossom rubbed her chin, deep in thought. "Replace the bow with a black headband, git some red blush and pink eye-shaduh, and you are good ta go!"

The pink hedgehog grinned. Pan looked over at her, questionably, and muttered, "How many outfits has she tried on? I lost count at 50."

Ivy popped up from behind a rack of jeans, holding three bags where we had carefully folded our dresses and accessories into. "Don't criticize her, Pan; we've tried five stores, and you are the only one besides Amy who hasn't bought a dress. You haven't even tried on one."

"Because it is absolutely idiotic. You waste two hours searching for a dress when a guy could buy five pairs of jeans in ten minutes or less. There are too many huge factors as to finding the perfect dress and such."

"Oh my gods! I got it!"

Aly's peppy voice wove into our ears, and she jogged over to us, holding an arsenal of accessories on top of a velvet-purple dress. She held the pile out to Pan, and the fox stared blankly at it.

"Um, what is this tsunami of stuff?"

"Things that you are trying on."

Pause. "Um, what?"

A devious gleam glittered in Aly's eyes. Before any of us could say a word, she dragged Pan over to an empty dressing room, threw her in with the clothes, and slammed the door shut.

"The hell, Aly?" Pan cried angrily, reopening the door to glare at the pink bat. "What was that for?"

"Get those clothes on, now, Pan. You didn't come shopping with us to grope and groan; you came to buy some clothes and look pretty. Now, will you, please? You owe me after all I did, you know."

"Urk…" Pan's voice wavered from behind the wooden door, and she let out a sigh. "Fine, I will."

I raised an eyebrow at Aly, not believing what I had just heard or saw. "How did you-?"

She fluffed her high, pink ponytail and smiled mysteriously. "She owed me a favor after what I did to help her."

My eyebrows furrowed as Amy, Blossom, Ivy, and I stared blankly at the victorious Aly. "Um… OK…" we stated hesitantly.

"Hey, where did Pansy go?" Sally asked, walking up beside us, craning her neck around the store.

"She's inside that dressing room, getting a dress on," Aly cheerfully explained.

"What? How did you manage to convince her to do that?"

"Your guess is as good as ours," Amy shrugged, pointing a thumb at Aly. The bat beamed. The door suddenly slammed open and Pan came storming out of the room. I felt my jaw unhinge and slam into the marble floor when I saw her.

"There, it's on. Happy?" Pan crossed her arms over her chest, nodding her head at the gorgeous dress she wore and blushing violently. The velvet-purple gown shone off the hanging store lights, and thin straps hung onto her shoulders for dear life. White lace decorated the back, revealing the glossy, purple fur on her back and a slit on the left side of the dress showed off her skinny-but-powerful legs. Her regular sneakers, cap, and gloves had been replaced with glittering, clear heels topped with a bow, a black beret, and elbow-length silk gloves, accessories that completely contrasted from her usual appearance. Still, she looked smashing.

"Hun, you look absolutely fabulous," Blossom squealed, covering her mouth with her hands. The others nodded in faint agreement, still wowed at how amazing she appeared.

"Hmph. Whatever."

"See, I knew this would be perfect for her!" Aly giggled. "Get the others!"

"What do ya need, Al-?" Bunnie stopped mid-sentence and mid-step beside the other girls and gawked at Pan.

"Oh my gosh, who got you in a dress!" Marigold gasped, eyes glittering under the lights.

"Pan, I love the dress," Bluebell commented, staring at her.

"Ditto, dude; guys will be bowing at your feet," Poppy added.

The fox blushed harder, and brushed some of her bangs back. "Heh heh… I'm not too sure about that…"

Snowlily nodded, hugging her shopping bag that contained a bundle of traditional kimono accessories. "Nonsense, Pansy. You do look stunningly attractive, once we add more to your composure with a bit of make-up, of course."

Pansy's face fell. "Oh no, you don't. Wearing a dress, I can handle. But make-up…?" Once her eyes landed on Aly's disapproving glance, though, she sighed and threw up her hands in a surrendering motion. "FINE."

We all exchanged side-glances. Something fishy was happening with her and Aly. Being the type of person who wouldn't go sticking my nose in people's business, I just brushed it off my shoulders and suggested that we go and pay for Amy's and Pan's dresses. They all agreed, and Pan changed back into her regular clothes. We paid for the outfit and accessories using the almost-limitless amount of money that the Acorn monarchy possessed. Sally said that the cost of the dresses wouldn't matter compared to the quantity of dough her folks had. Royalty is quite useful in that way.

As we walked through the town, back toward Freedom HQ, I felt something tightly grip my right ankle. I paused, and looked down at a black ferret-child, who looked like she was at least 5 years old. Her wavy black hair was held up in a pink bow that brushed against my fur as she hugged herself to my leg.

"Fweedom Fighter! Fweedom Fighter!" she sang, pink blush dazzling her smile. I showed a weak grin, and chuckled as she let go of my right ankle and moved to my left.

"Molly, come here, now!" I glanced upward at a male, black ferret with blue-black hair, and a white tee and blue jeans. Molly released my constricted ankles and ran over to her father, grasping his own ankle. I weakly smiled, staring at the happy girl and her father.

"Daddy, look! It's one of the new Fweedom Fighters that was on the TV!" she cried, pointing at me. Nearby Mobians looked up from their conversations, and began to stare at me. I gulped as the conversations died, and the residents began to retreat from me. Hushed whispers made my ears twitch, and nervous sweat trickled onto my brow.

"Whoa, it's one of the weird girls!" one murmured.

"She looks normal enough," another muttered.

"Whaddya think she can do?"

"I dunno. Maybe she can, like, shoot lasers from her eyes or somethin'."

"Does she have the potential to be Fighter, though? We don't even know what she does."

"Freak."

My hand clenched at some of the things they were muttering. Others noticed my hint of hostility and annoyance, and backed off. The father, whom was now holding his daughter in his arms, watched me.

"Please, don't ever touch my daughter again. I'd prefer to have my child stay away from your kind."

My eyes widened and I opened my mouth to protest. What did he just say? What was going on? Then-

"Sorry, but we were just passing through. Hope we didn't bother anyone. Have a nice day, and see you tonight at the party!"

Ivy snatched my wrist and dragged me away from the surprised crowd. The others were ahead, too busy chattering about the fact that Pan had tried on a dress to notice what was happening behind them.

"What was all that?" I gulped, watching the crowd disperse and return to normal.

"'People fear what they don't understand, and hate what they can't conquer.' It's a quote from Andrew Smith, which kind of fits into what just happened. The citizens of this city don't understand us as members of their society yet, since we're new and different. Because, technically, our heritage is otherworldly, which frightens people about what we can do, considering all of the negative alien influences this planet has been exposed to. That was why all those Mobians were staring at you, because you are a unique individual."

I sighed, and nodded. I did understand what Ivy was saying (mostly), but still. Being outlawed for my difference felt terrible.

"Hey, what's holding you guys up?"

The others had noticed Ivy and I behind them, and watched us curiously. I shook my head. "N-Nothing. Just trying to gather my thoughts for the celebration, I suppose."

Ivy patted my shoulder. "She's just thinking about everything that's happened."

They shrugged, and gestured for us to follow. We acknowledged, walking behind them. Ivy began to participate in their conversation, but I trudged at the end of the crowd. No other Mobians seemed to notice us, what with gossiping about the party and such. But my thoughts swirled like a brewing hurricane, uneasy and ready to explode. My stomach began to sink like a stone as I thought of what could happen at the party. I prayed, as we left the city, that nothing would go wrong. Hopefully.

Hopefully.

* * *

**Mysterious P.O.V.**

"So, what do we do now?" I asked her, pulling down my red shades a bit. Sitting beside a little café, keeping my profile low, wasn't my style. At all.

"Patience, hon. We'll get her."

"Can't we just go after her now, and rub the floor with her?"

"Babe, the Empress paid us a huge load of money to bring Pan to her. We gotta wait for the right time, then strike. Stick with the program; we already know how to get under her skin. We can even have a little fun with it if we want. The top priority, though, is to snag Pan, alive, and bring her to the boss."

I took a bunch of counterfeit money from my jacket pocket, placed it on the table, and walked with her. She held a large plastic bag filled with a tuxedo and other useful accessories I would be wearing at the dance. I would be stirring up a boatload of trouble.

"You are going to soak this up for all its worth, aren't you?" she snickered, pulling her leather trench coat tighter around her.

"Hell yeah, babe. It's so damn good to be bad."


	28. Chapter 28

**Eh, sorry for the wait. I've been busy with near-ER trips, tuba-learning, and theater shows, in addition to summer homework. Blaugh. I'm even stressed during the summer. :P**

**Ah, anyways. So, to catch up, I am planning on releasing (HOPEFULLY) one to two chapters each day this week to make up for late updates and such. By the end of the week, I hope to have at least 8 chapters up, and then I will go back to the regular schedule. So, two chapter updates today, and I won't say anything in the next chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 28**

**Holy Freakin' Shish-Kabobs…**

**Pansy's P.O.V.**

OK, putting the piece-of-crap dress on in the first place was humiliating enough. Especially since I owed Aly for helping me with my cruddy romantic life. But, seriously? _MAKE-UP?_

I felt like I was being hauled down into girly world. The next thing you know, I'll be making out with guys I hardly know and become worried about how I look as I break in demons' skulls with my bo-staff.

I had noticed that Azalea had become a lot more quiet, ever since she trailed off and got side-tracked behind us. Ivy seemed a bit distraught, too. I would've helped them, if I wasn't becoming even more humiliated with their teasing and jabbering about me in the dress.

"Aw, c'mon, Pan, ya look like a doll in that dress," Bunnie giggled.

"Ha ha ha. Oh, it's so funny."

Sally giggled as we approached Nicole's force field around Freedom HQ. As she disarmed the barrier, the others continued to tease me about wearing a dress. I got to the point where I was so irritated, I grabbed a sequined floppy hat that Blossom had bought to go with her dress and shoved it into her face.

"Mmph!" she exclaimed, pulling out the hat from her snout and spitting out spare sequins. We all laughed at her (or in Snow's case, smiled at our immaturity), and stumbled over each other to get into the main room. Blossom glared at me and stuck out her tongue, which was still dotted with a few gray sequins.

"Um, dare I ask what's going on?" Wendell gulped, twiddling his thumbs.

"We finally got her into a dress!" Mari sang, ruffling my cap.

"Just an FYI, I _never_ gave consent on that idea," I informed the guys.

"What do you mean, Pan? It was totally your idea," Aly added innocently. I glared at her fake-angelic expression. She was acting like such a naïve, childlike girl that you might as well have replaced her bat wings with angel wings and given her a yellow-white halo and a clean white dress.

"Oh, please," I grumbled, plopping down on the arm of one of the couches beside Dodge. He snickered, knowing my total tomboy-ish personality and muttered to me, "Did they seriously get you into a dress? Did they get a picture?"

"Oh, piss off. Why, did Antoine get you into a tuxedo?"

He looked down at his feet suddenly, blushing. I also knew how improper he was as well, clothes-wise, and gave myself a satisfied grin. "Ah-ha! So, you wore a tux, now, did you?"

"Ok, ok, I won't tease you if you won't tease me," he groaned, placing his head in his hands. I ruffled his fur and watched Sally begin to speak.

"So, obviously, we've got to begin planning on what to tell Mobius about you girls and this new threat that has teamed up with Robotnik…"

From that point on, I tilted my head back and ignored everything she was saying. She went over political reactions, public safety awareness, signs that this guy might be an enemy hidden within the city, yadda yadda yadda. I faded in and out of the discussion, since I had such a short attention span. Azalea calls it, like, A.D.D. or somethin'. I don't know what it is 'cause I don't care about labels.

As I observed the others, I noticed how bored Sonic seemed. He didn't seem to be listening to this boring discussion either. His eyes were closed and his arms were holding up his head. A wistful and thoughtful expression was on his face, as he gently began to snore. The talking died down suddenly, and I blinked, out of my staring trance.

"Pan? You still with us?"

Everyone was watching me suspiciously, and I swallowed a lump in my throat. "Er, yeah. Just thinkin', I suppose."

"Did you hear a word of what we just said, Pansy?" Snowlily questioned coldly, crossing her arms. A drop of sweat appeared on my brow.

"Um… no."

Everyone comically flopped backward, groaning in frustration. I chuckled nervously, as Sonic drowsily woke from his sleep.

"Hmm? Wass-goin'-on?" he slurred, letting out a loud yawn as everyone propped themselves back up.

"Have you been sleeping this whole time?" Sally moaned.

He blinked, a deer-in-the-headlights look on his face. "…Maybe?"

"Sonic the Hedgehog…" Amy growled, pulling out her Piko Piko Hammer. His face paled and quills sprung up. "WE JUST SPENT AN HOUR DISCUSSING THIS, AND YOU DIDN'T HEAR A WORD?!" Aghast, I watched Amy chase after Sonic, angrily, out of the base and into the forest. Silently, we watched the events.

"Sometimes, I think of you Mobians as cartoon-y characters, and I guess I have proof now," I heard Azalea mumble, as Tails flew out the door towards them.

"What's wrong with her?" Wisp asked in a disturbed tone.

"She's probably just tired," Wendell shrugged.

"Aren't we all?" Dodge and Maroon yawned.

"Pan, can you please check on them?" Sally sighed. "And after you bring them back, I'll summarize what you have to say over dinner."

"Please hurry, too. I don't want to feel the dying cries of trees being knocked down by her over-sized weapon," Ivy added.

I pushed myself onto my feet. "On it."

* * *

"Tails, let go of me!"

"Not until you promise not to smash him!"

"Geez, Amy, simmer down! I'm a bit tired after yesterday's shenanigans!"

"Argh! Sometimes you can be so frustrating!"

I heard the three, familiar, arguing voices and rushed in the direction. I approached the situation, in which Sonic had his back against an oak tree, Amy looked about ready to kill with the hammer in her left hand, and Tails was holding her back by yanking on her right hand.

Inserting myself between the pink and the blue, I held up a hand to Amy's hammer, and flicked it. The weapon tumbled through the air with the force of the impact and lodged itself between two strong branches of the tree behind Sonic. It hung there steadily, as I took a glance at Amy.

"You done, bro?" I asked blandly. She glared at me.

"What was that for?!"

"To make sure you didn't crush a hero of the world, space, and time."

Tails released her, nervous as to what was about to happen. She and I locked eyes for a while, staring each other down. Finally, I sighed, and said, "Look, you're probably just tired, and this is your fatigue talking. Don't smash him now, Amy; you'll probably get plenty of other opportunities to kick his butt for being a jerk. And I mean, _plenty_."

She blinked. "Fine." The hammer disappeared in a puff of smoke and she apologized to him, giving him a cheerful smile. Then, she was skipping back off to Freedom HQ, happy and care-free. At the same time, Sonic and Tails began stuttering and asking for an explanation as to how I dealt with Amy so well. I smirked.

"Guys, it takes years of experience to know how to talk an angry girl down. It's not something to be taught; it takes experience," I explained with mock-snob in my voice. They laughed, and I joined in.

"Anyways, we better go back," Tails gasped, chuckling lightly.

"Race ya there, bud!" Sonic cried, speeding back to base. He chuckled, and dashed off towards the speedy hedgehog. I began to jog after them, still laughing slightly.

_Snap._

My joyful mood evaporated like vapor once I heard the noise of a twig breaking. A figure appeared from the trees' shadows and snarled at me in a familiar tone, "Well, that was interesting."

"Scourge!" I exclaimed. Immediately, my bo-staff was in my hands and I was rushing in his direction. My confidence short-circuited, however, when Scourge thrust out his arm and whammed me in the stomach. I squeaked, and backed up, clutching my stomach in pain. That was probably gonna leave a few marks. He smirked.

"You're just as weak as the last time I saw you," he smirked. I looked up at his head, which was blocking out the sun's rays and shadowing his ugly mug.

"Why the hell are you here?" I spat, coughing.

"Trust me, babe, you want me to tell you what I'm doing here."

My eyes narrowed. "What are you talking about?"

"I know about all the mushy heroic stuff you did recently to Robotnik. I also know that there's gonna be some boring-ass party happening later today. I'm just giving you a word of caution."

Now I was really confused. "Caution?"

"That's right, babe. I want you to go to the Lake of Rings tonight, after the meeting. There's something Fiona and I wanna discuss with you."

I frowned and shook my head. "And what if I say no?"

"Then your friends get Purified."

Really freakin' confused now. And a bit worried. "Um, what?"

"Fi set up toxic bombs containing Purification formula DNA, and if you don't do as I say, I'm activating them during the party."

The words sank in, and the soon-to-be-autumn air suddenly dropped to freezing cold. "That's blackmail!" I hissed.

He scoffed, raising his sunglasses. "So what? Maybe it is. That's why I like to say it's good to be bad."

"Nice motto…" I muttered, rising to my feet.

"Hey, no back talk. Put one _toe_ out of line, and the entire city becomes some of your darkest enemies." I licked my dry lips, watching him circle around me like I was his prey. "And don't tell your stupid new friends either. This is a private meeting, so I don't want any of your filthy trash showing up. You better come. Or else."

And in a flash, he was gone. The only things left of him were footprints and a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. That sinking feeling, and pain. Oh, and nausea as well.

I retracted my bo-staff, and watched the direction he had left. Maybe I should've been nicer to him after breaking up with him…

"Hey, Pan?"

Groaning, I took a glance over my shoulder. Sonic and Tails were standing behind me, concerned. Bile threatened to spill out of my mouth, but I shook my head. "Sorry. It's…" My eyes followed Scourge's tracks. "…it's nothing. Just old memories floating to the surface."

"Old memories?" Sonic asked, trying to get a view of my face.

"Sonic, don't push at it," Tails advised, pulling his bro's shoulder back. I stared at the prints in the earth, thinking about the past we shared. A reality shot slapped me awake, and I looked back at them.

"Eh, sorry. I can get a bit… distracted, I suppose."

"No, it's alright," Tails smiled sheepishly. I ruffled his fur as we walked out of the woods, together, without racing.

"You know, whoever raised you did their job well."

"Heh. That'd be thanks to Sonic." He pointed a thumb at the cobalt hedgie, who had tilted his head backward and seemed to be enjoying the crisp air. The field surrounding the base had begun to yellow, and as walked through the grass, crisp noises sounded from under our feet.

"Er, on second thought, maybe not," I joked. He opened his eyes and gave the two of us a playful glare. We broke apart laughing, as we practically skipped back to base. As they continued chuckling and chortling, I thought of the fate that awaited me at the dance.

_May the gods help me._


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

**To Tell a Tale**

**Marigold's P.O.V.**

So, I finally get a part to tell in this story! Squee!

It's about time, since the others have been hogging the narrating. And I'll let the others have a turn… eventually.

Anyways, while Pan was playing peacekeeper for the three Mobian friends, I was at Freedom HQ with the others. It was a shabby-looking place, not something of my personal taste, but still a nice place. I was glad to be here with the biggest names in F.F. history, but I was honestly more cheerful that Nicole had matched the room I had slept in to my taste. She had gotten everything right, after researching me on her database and finding my own Downunda Freedom Fighter profile. Marble flooring, bright yellow walls with posters of the biggest musical sensations, a map of my home-continent, Downunda, and sparkles. So… many… SPARKLES!

Ahem. To say the least, I was pretty happy with my place of residence. Heck, not only about my new home, but the fact that I had met and fought beside the five other demigoddesses, the New Mobotropolis Freedom Fighters, and four super-cute guys. Plus, waking up to eat blueberry waffles? Going shopping? A party? Instantly, I was falling in love with the city. Or, at least, I was in a pretty decent mood. For a while.

To start with how my mood skyrocketed downward faster than the decline of a high heel, Nicole and I had started gathering up some snacks for us (after all, we hadn't had lunch yet). She used her awesome holographic witchcraft to create porcelain cups and plates as I gathered up small ham and cheese sandwiches I found in their fridge and made green tea.

"So, just out of curiosity, how did you meet the two other girls?" Nicole asked, breaking the tense silence between us.

I shrugged. "It's a long story. Like, a really long story. I guess we'll explain it to pass time until we have to get ready for the party." I glanced over at Bloss and Poppy. I knew, somehow, that their own histories were long ones. I could tell; they had character layers just by looking at them. So, our stories would probably take up a huge chunk of time.

"Mari, the tea," Nicole warned, as the pot began to sing. I jumped out of my scatter-brained state and reached for the mitt. I snatched it off the stove and turned off the heater in a flash. I exhaled deeply at held the metal pot close to my face. I was such a klutz.

"_Marigold! Don't worry, I'll find you!"_

"Mari?" Nicole asked, her holograms creating a metal tray. Her and the others' voices still continued echoing in my ears, but they seemed farther away. I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. That voice, it was my father's. But, why was I hearing it?

My hands began to tremble against the heat of the pot. Gently, I placed it on the table, as images rapidly flashed through my mind. I grasped my pounding head. My father, the Downunda Freedom Fighters, my old flute, Walt and Barby.

"Oh my gosh. Someone help her!"

I only realized I was reawakening from passing out on the floor once Maroon dashed over to my side, and helped me onto my feet. I was shaking, and could only stand with the support of the red hedgehog.

"What haz happened?" Antoine gasped, once I was sitting in a worn-out armchair.

"It was another one." I swallowed cold saliva, remembering the blackouts I had had. My fur spiked up. It was so weird, though; the last time I lost myself like that was when I was thirteen, after I had kissed Walt. My heart crumpled like a piece of paper when I remembered the leader of the Freedom Fighter unit in Downunda. And besides, that incident was almost one year old. Why was I thinking of it now?

"Another what?" Azalea inquired, her mouth in a frown and brows tightened.

"A blackout. Weird rapid flashes of old memories I get every so often."

Bunnie watched me worriedly. "Is it some sorta condition?"

"I dunno. I've had them for as long as I can remember." I noticed Maroon, still beside me like I was going to fall over again, giving me a nervous but sympathetic glance.

"It maght be some kinda mental condition, but it's most likelah a relation to the fact that you're a demigod," Bloss guessed. "I don't think that the fact that you and ah have the same conditions is any ol' coincidence."

"That's extremely odd; I receive those visions as well." Ivy looked up at us, and frowned. She stood and began to pace. "Yes, there must be some connection."

Poppy, Snowlily, and Alyssum nodded in agreement. Azalea still looked really confused. "Wait, shouldn't I be getting those visions, too?"

"Maybe it's because we only found you a short while ago?" Sally suggested. "I mean, you've only known who you really were for, what, a few weeks?"

Azalea shrugged. "Maybe."

At that moment, Amy reentered after chasing Sonic out of the base. Except, Sonic, Tails, and Pan were nowhere in sight.

"Amy, where are the others?" Nicole asked, carrying the tray of snacks to the center coffee table. She had also brought the teapot with the sandwiches.

"I don't know. I left them back there after Pan told me to back down." She sat on one of the couches between Dodge and Antoine, reached over to a sandwich, and began to chewing thoughtfully on it.

"Speak of the devil, and he shall come. Or, in this case, three shall arrive." Wisp hummed, the front door opening. The dude, although really sexy-looking, kinda scared me. He knew they were there without opening his eyes. Gah. Nevertheless, a cheerful Sonic and Tails walked inside, with a lost Pan trailing behind them.

Wendell watched them enter while swallowing some tea. "Where were you guys?"

"Pan got a little sidetracked, like she'd seen a ghost. So, we woke her up and came back," Tails explained.

"It was nothing though. Right?" Sonic grinned, leaping onto a cushion and stretching himself out.

She nodded. "Right. Oh, and Dodge, good to see you're liking the food they have here."

We turned our heads to see the brown fox, and the largely-decreased space on the metal tray. Breadcrumbs coated his mouth, and his cheeks were as puffed as a balloon. "Gwah?"

All of us broke into laughter at his reaction. He shrugged, picked up another sandwich, and began stuffing his mouth with it.

"Hee hee… anyway, we were just discussing demigod relationships between you guys," Sally said. "So, Pan, sorry for asking this, but do you ever get visions when you sleep? The others do, except for Azalea, but we were wondering if there might be some sort of relationship between you."

The purple fox pushed her cap up and nodded. "Yeah. I get them almost every night, which is why I've never had a curfew." No one laughed at her joke, so she coughed awkwardly and continued, "The memories that pop up are really random. One night, I'll be dreaming about an old friend; the next, I'll be fighting SWAT-bots."

"Same here," Alyssum commented. The others, myself included, bobbed our heads in agreement.

"I guess that means I'll be getting those weird visions, too?" Azalea sighed.

"Yeah," we all answered in unison.

"Ah, well. Anywhoo, we should probably get to know you guys a bit." Azalea directed the statement towards Bloss, Pop, and I. Bloss looked up from her nails, a stale look on her face.

"What is there ta tell? We all suffahed and went through a lotta crap."

Azalea shrugged. "I was just wondering. Like, how did you guys meet and such?"

"Well, I'm from Downunda, even though I never got the accent. For a while, I worked with the Downunda Freedom Fighters and lived with my father. We helped keep Robotnik's forces at bay. About a year ago, my father left our home to travel the world and see if he could find a place where he and I could live, peacefully. I've known about my powers and trained myself for pretty much my whole life, so I know how to handle myself without him. Mom left when I was two, but gave my dad instructions on how to make me bright and powerful. That's why I left for the Cocoa Islands half-a-year after Daddy left, to investigate a threat, which was the Battle Bird Armada. I wanted to see how I would handle in the real world. And I actually had some decent experiences with the islanders. I also met the other two there. Poppy and Blossom claimed that their stories were too long to tell, so I never got a chance to find out where either of them came from."

Expectantly, the others turned to Poppy and Blossom. "What about you two?" Ivy asked.

"Uh, what 'bout us, sugah?" Blossom responded.

"Where did you come from?"

The two girls looked at me, each other, and then back at the rest of us. "Um, could we discuss this later?" they replied in unison.

Curious, we stared at them. "Why? What's wrong?"

"Oh fireworks, look at the time! We should really start getting ready!" Poppy interrupted, leaping to her feet, grabbing her dress from the plastic bags we hung up on the coat hangers, and practically sprinting toward her room. Bloss was hot on her heels.

"That was weird," Amy muttered.

"No kiddin'," I added.

"They're right, though. We should get ready and be there early rather than late," Ivy said.

"Besides, we gotta get some _make-up _on," Snowlily loudly stated, glaring at Pan.

"Don't even," she growled.

The two began to argue heatedly as they picked up their own clothes and walked towards their own rooms.

"Hee hee. They can be quite entertaining," Ivy giggled.

"Ditto that. Maroon and I are going back to the Chao Garden, so we'll be right back," Wendell informed us. Once he and the red hedgehog left, I gave a smile. No matter what, this was definitely gonna be an awesome-sauce group of Freedom Fighters.

Without a doubt.


	30. Chapter 30

**Ah, I shall put up two chapters tomorrow for you, since I didn't update yesterday. To my misfortune, a relative of mine passed away, so it's pretty depressing. :( But I shall go on for you, readers!**

**So, 30 chapters... Oh. My. God. Thanks so much, you guys! :D You don't know how happy I am. Now, read, children, read!**

* * *

**Chapter 30**

**Party Like There's No Tomorrow**

**Pansy's P.O.V.**

"Proper behavior must be exhibited to make a strong first impression on the citizens of Mobius!"

"Uh-huh."

"Pansy, this is not something you can just blow off your shoulders, like you do with everything else!"

"Right."

Snow glared at me, eyes dark and stormy. Eyeroll. She growled menacingly, but we were soon pushed apart by Aly.

"OK, girls, calm down. Seriously though, Pan, you have to put _some_ lipstick and blush on. I have some that might look good on you."

Snow sneered victoriously. I shook my head, and then noticed the face Aly was making. Her eyes were open wide, her cheeks blushed, tears formed in her eyes, and her bottom lip trembled. I gave a disturbed look at her begging face, and finally replied, "Only put a little bit of makeup, will ya?"

She returned back to normal and gave a cheer before rushing into her room, carrying the clothes she was wearing. Snow took a glance at me, still mocking me. I pulled down my bottom eyelid and stuck my tongue out at her in response. Offended, she gave me a cold stare and stepped into her room. The door slammed shut behind her.

I sighed, and walked into my own room. Lazily, I dropped my stuff on my bed, and flopped down on my back beside it.

"Ugh, what was I thinkin'?" I grumbled. I flipped onto my stomach, muttering, "I'm already in enough trouble as it is."

Silently, I thought about Scourge's earlier appearance. I had to keep this whole thing a secret, or else I would endanger the lives of everyone in the entire city, since the whole population was to attend. I was treading on cracked ice here. One false move, and I humiliate myself in front of the world, or kill everyone by informing the Fighters of the secretly planned terrorism, or have Scourge tell the Empress to put a huge price on my head. (I assumed the Empress had given him the job, due to the Purification bombs.)

A sparkle caught my eye, and I glanced at my dress. Miserably, I stripped off my tomboy clothes and slid into the outfit and placed the accessories on. I hated wearing dresses. Granted, I did wear one whenever I had to fight, but that's a fighting uniform. This was completely different; I was wearing the dress because I "wanted" to look pretty. Two totally different reasons.

_They aren't that different_, Ivy thought. I gasped aloud, almost ripping my gloves as I took them off. Well, that didn't give me a heart attack. _And what is this about Scourge and a secret attack?_

_Ivy! Er, awkward. Let me expl-_

_You don't have to say anything. I heard everything. And don't worry, I won't tell the others._

I sighed to myself, thanked her, and then proceeded to boot her from my mind so she wouldn't go sweep my brain for secrets I kept hidden. I shook my head in frustration, and stepped into the bathroom to take a look at myself. Ugh, I looked so girly. All I needed was the mean-girl attitude and my eight fighting scars on my arms, legs and little one on my neck to be erased. Maybe even a frickin' tiara. At that point, I could be the ruler of some preppy private school.

"Yo Pan! You almost ready? We gotta do your makeup before we head out!" Aly cried. She giggled. I sighed, and leaned into the mirror, staring at myself. I looked fine without that crap. Why did Mobians need that stuff, anyway? I still don't know why.

WHAM!

The bedroom door slammed open, and Aly barged into the room. I gasped, and jumped forward, slamming my head against the mirror. My skull pounded and I swore silently when I realized the glass had cracked. Tiny shards scattered on the floor, none piercing my skin.

"Pan, are you alright?" Aly asked.

"Fine," I responded. _Note to self: Tell Nicole to use her nanite magic to fix the mirror._

For one more second, I stared back at myself in the mirror. It looked screwed up and it was difficult to see me clearly. I smiled to myself. _Scratch that. This is a more accurate image._

"Paaaan!" Aly whined. Satisfied, I strutted out of the room. Aly was in her clothes, a sleeveless gown which was a light candy-pink with fluffy edges, white tights, black flats, and clear gloves.

"OK, Aly. I'm trusting you with my looks here. Make me look pretty."

* * *

"What the hell?" I was exclaiming an hour later. (Geez, no wonder they had us dress up early. We had another hour just to get to this place before the party started.) When Aly held up her mirror compact, I wasn't sure whether to be horrified at how girly I looked, amazed at how different my appearance was, or pissed because I'd be stuck with half of this stuff on my face a few days after the party.

I had become someone else entirely. My bobbed hair had been turned from kinda-cared-for into perfectly-straight locks with healthy ends. It looked someone had placed a silk curtain on my head. I was now dipped in conditioner, and the light reflected off my hair and fur beautifully. She had taken off my gloves and heels to clean my finger- and toenails, then paint them a clear (which really didn't make much sense to me, but it was just a "precaution") shade, so my body was taken care of easily. My face however, was decorated in pink blush, bubblegum-pink lipstick, mascara, and bright-purple eye shadow. She said that she had thought the cute girl-next-door look would be better than the bad-ass, sexy look. I also helped with the decision, mainly because the opposing look would involve a heck of a lot more makeup and time, none of which we had.

"Now, everyone's waiting out in the living room. We get to show them how you look!" She giggled cheerfully, and plopped on my beret. I stared at her, and felt my heart drop like a stone.

"Wait, everyone?"

"Yep."

Inside, I died. My head hung in misery as I thought of the teases that Dodge would throw at me for years to come.

"Stop doing that! You'll screw up your hair!" she nagged.

"Noo…" I moaned.

"Oh, hush up! Now, c'mon, we gotta show you off!" Giddy, she opened the door and dashed out of the room. My stomach flipped like a flapjack as I followed her, skipping into the room. The chatter in the room died down almost automatically, and everyone's eyes were focused on me. All the others were dressed to impress as well. The girls were in their dresses we bought earlier, and the guys were in sharp tuxedos and suits. The only exceptions were Antoine (wearing a blue soldier's uniform), Snow (she was in a kimono), and Wisp (wearing formal, black robes). An awkward silence settled over us.

All at once, though, they began to applaud. Sally and the girls began to hawk over how "beautiful" I looked, and a couple of the guys threw some wolf-whistles at me. Even Snow and Wisp, the most reserved of the group, stared at me.

"OMG! Aly, you're a genius!" Mari bubbled.

Dodge gave me a slap on the back. "You know how much I'm going to tease you for this, right?"

"You're one to talk," I responded, gesturing to his collared white shirt, green tie, dress shoes, and pants-less legs.

He grimaced. "Never mention this again if I don't to you?"

"Deal, bro." We shook hands, swishing our tails together and over our hands. An old handshake we used when we made an agreement.

"Now, shall we be off?" Sally asked.

"Hell yeah. Let's show these Mobians what we're made of!" I yelled.

* * *

The party was absolutely awesome-looking. Colorful streamers decorated the surrounding buildings of Castle Acorn, as well as balloons, lights, and dressed-up Mobians. Like Scourge claimed, speakers surrounded the castle's border and blared out a popular tune by Mina and the Forget-Me-Knots. Most of the action, however, was taking place inside the castle, so the amount of Mobians outside milling about was small compared to the population inside.

A huge room down a narrow, carpeted hall, apparently the biggest in the entire castle, was overrun by dancing, partying, and snacking Mobians. There was a large dance floor, a large stage where a DJ was spinning tracks, side tables overloaded with chips, punch, and sweets. Smaller booths were positioned against the wall, advertising high school government leaders, extracurricular activities, and local diners. Multiple news reporters were hanging out close to the entrance of the place, and buzzed to life once we entered the room. Camera flashes blinded us and reporters and journalists shoved microphones into our faces. Other bystanders began noticing us, and tried to catch a glimpse of us.

"Who are you guys?"

"Sally, what does your father think of the new Freedom Fighter group?"

"Are you truly part-god?"

"Are you from another world?"

"What can we expect from you?"

"Enough, enough!" A familiar voice silenced the reporters, and we all turned. King Elias wove through the crowd, and planted himself directly between the approaching tsunami of news-Mobians.

"You will receive all the information you want during the interview later this evening. I think that the new fighters have enough on their platter as it is. Please, let them enjoy their evening first before bombarding them with questions, hmm?"

The crowd dispersed, leaving only us and Elias. Reporters grumbled to themselves, irritated, but I was internally smirking.

"_Arigato*_, King Elias," Snow and Wisp thanked in unison and bowed.

"There's no need to be so formal, you two. This is a party, not a fancy ball."

The two nodded, giving each other unreadable glances. The other girls looked at each other as well, uneasily.

"How is Father, Elias?" Sally swallowed. The king's face went sour, and his smooth features contorted.

"He has not taken to the news lightly." He glanced at the eight of us. "He thinks that the powers you possess is nothing but trickery, and says that the slightest possibility that you have magical powers is completely foolish."

"He sounds like a happy person to have dinner with," Poppy scoffed sarcastically, putting her bare hand on her hip.

"Yes, he is a bit… unreasonable, at times." The king glanced at Sally. "I hope you've been preparing them for what to say. The presses are going bananas, coming up with the craziest theories."

"Don't worry. I have. Right, girls?" All of us nodded. Suddenly, I felt a light tap on my shoulder. I whirled around, and once I saw the pristine, white glove clench over my hand, told the others, "I'll be right back. I gotta take care of something." As the hand yanked me away, I caught Ivy's eye.

_I understand. I'll cover you._

I gave her a tight smile as the hand dragged me out of the room, out of the castle, and in the direction of the Lake of Rings. He was a tough-looking hedgehog, with unfamiliar black quills, fingerless gloves, a black tuxedo and pants, and peach skin. Everything about him was completely unrecognizable, except for that pair of red shades clenched in his other hand.

"I'm diggin' the look, Pan. Not looking like the ol' 'I-live-in-a-dumpster' look, huh?"

"Ha ha."

"Now, you didn't tell anyone, right?" Scourge growled. I smirked.

"Like the new look, too, slimeball," I commented. He turned back and stared at me through purple eyes. His jagged teeth showed, and he dug his nails into my hand. I winced as tiny cuts formed on my fingers. He stopped, pulled out his contacts, and glared at me with ice-blue eyes.

"Right?" he asked, more demandingly.

"Yes, don't worry. Don't get your quills tied up in a knot." I was an expert at lying after doing it for so many years, so my pupils didn't contract, no sweat formed on my palm, and my heart rate didn't speed up.

After a moment, he stared into my eyes, nodded, and continued to drag me. "Good. Now, we're almost there. Fi'll be waiting for us."

I growled. "Seriously?"

"Oh, shut up. It's not like you've been through worse." He winked at me, and I clenched my open hand, ready to punch his lights out. We walked into the trees behind the lake, and saw a familiar silhouette hanging out on a rock.

"Hey, sweetie. Been a while, huh?" Fiona hopped down, her metal shoes clinking together as she strutted over to us. Blood in my veins boiled like a kettle of soup. Fi looked the same as the last time I saw her. The short black top, black leggings attached to her boots, fingerless gloves, red fur and hair, and that stupid, goddamn yellow bow holding her hair in place. What was she, five?

"It feels short. Should we compare our bitchiness and see whose is worse?"

She opened her mouth to talk back, but Scourge saved her the favor of speaking by slapping my across the right cheek. The pain stung temporarily, but the stronger agony was the feeling in my fist that yearned to contact with both of their skulls.

"Don't screw with her. Besides, we have other important matters to attend to." He kicked me in the jaw before bringing out a metal device with a huge red button in the middle. Warm, crimson liquid dribbled down my chin, staining my dress red, as I watched him juggle the remote casually in his hands. My body shook with rage.

"Stop screwing with it."

He sniggered. "Or what?"

"Or I'll… I'll…"

He gave another snicker, waving the remote in front of my face. "Uh-uh-uh. Poor lil' Pan better keep her mouth shut. So, listen up. We got something to say."

"The Empress proposed this motion to us, saying that we would get to mess with your head as much as we'd like as long as we got her job done. So, we want to know what you know about the Aura Stones."

I frowned. "Does she have a reason?"

"Well, ya see, the Stones are basically the equivalent of Chaos Emeralds in your world, wherever the hell that is. They possess infinite, elemental power. She wants to know if you have any Stones to generously donate to her, or if you have any interesting, exclusive information on them."

I bit my lower lip. Fiona smirked. "Ah, so you do know something. Spill it, and no one gets hurt."

"Hell naw."

Scourge's finger hovered over the button. "Is that your final answer?"

I swore. "Fine. We have one of the Stones, and it's powering the engine of our transportation at Freedom HQ. I don't know anything special about the Stones, other than the fact that they're powerful and handy. Happy?"

A knife suddenly appeared in Scourge's hand. He raised it up to my throat, and smiled. "Maybe I'll do a bit torturing before we turn you in."

I gawked at him. "What? I just told you the truth!"

"We know," Fiona smiled. "Another thing she told us to do was bring you to her alive. Note, she said alive, not in good condition. Besides, after everything we've learned about you and your friends' history, how can we trust you?"

"My friends'-? Hurk!" I gagged, as he pressed the tip into my throat.

"You better let us have our way with you, Pan." His eyes went to the remote, and I clenched my teeth.

_Ivy, if you can hear me, I need back up assistance! Now! Disable the bombs; they're hidden in the speakers. Hurry, or they'll kill us all!_

* * *

***_Arigato _is "thank you" in Japanese. Makes sense, 'cause Wisp and Snowlily are from the Asian region of Mobius.**

**Gee, Scourge and Fiona suck, don't they? Ah, well. Keep your eyes peeled for more updates!**


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

**Restoration & Impairment**

**Ivy's P.O.V.**

_Dammit Pan. Your timing couldn't be worse._

As I responded to a reporter's question on our heritage and origins, I swore angrily at the purple fox. Honestly, she had to get in a predicament now?

"Sorry, ladies and gentlemen, I'm going to have to cut my part of the interview short. I have an appointment with a friend of mine, but I will be back in a moment to answer any more questions." As I began to take my exit, a reporter yelled, "Ivy, you were the smartest kid in the New Mobotropolis Educational District! Why did you choose to take position as a Freedom Fighter over being the wisest of kids your age?"

I paused, and glared back at the purple alpaca. "To answer your question, I have a duty to follow. Apologies to the school board, but defending the entire planet of Mobius from demonic gods is more important than receiving a strong education."

Cameras began to flash rapidly and Mobians began screeching at a rapid-fire pace. I knew how much trouble I was to cause for myself, but the pressure was on high.

"Sonic, I need you," I ordered, snagging his wrist. He blinked at me in confusion. "The rest of you, the speakers surrounding the castle have been rigged with toxic explosives. Disable the bombs as fast as you can. And if you can't, move them away from any surrounding civilians, at least 20 miles outside the city limits."

Everyone of the Fighters stared at me, shocked and surprised. Luckily, they didn't ask why; they automatically went to work on their tasks.

"Ivy, what the heck is goin' on?" Sonic exclaimed as I pulled him out of the backstage and into the night.

"Get to the trees behind the Lake of Rings," I explained, following what Pan explained to me as I spoke to him. "Pan is there right now. Her life is in danger because of Scourge and Fiona, so you need to help her. Go!"

* * *

**Pansy's P.O.V.**

"Now, we suggest you come quietly, Pan." Scourge gave a sadistic grin, and I felt the knife pierce my throat. I grunted, and glared at him.

"The Empress is going to be really happy. Who knows? Maybe she'll give us a little reward," Fi snickered.

"Please, babe. I'm torturing Pan and I get to as much as I want before turning her in. That's pay enough for me."

_Pan! _Ivy cried. _Help is on the way!_

"Take your mitts off her."

Scourge and Fiona gasped, and saw a silhouette shadowed by trees standing behind them. He took a step forward, his red sneakers glittering in the moonlight.

"Sonic?!" Scourge growled. _Speak of the devil_, I thought dryly. Scourge dropped the knife into a bush in shock.

"Nice disguise, Scourge. I would say you look better than before… but you really don't."

He turned back at me, lifted me up, and threw me into a nearby pine tree. My head hit first, and I slid down the tree. My head pounded with a terrible headache. I felt my beret shred like ribbons with the force of the impact and blood trickle down my right eye. "Babe, hit the button!" he screeched.

Before she could even blink, Sonic had snapped the remote out of her hand, and punched her in the gut.

"Normally, I wouldn't hit a girl. But I think I can make an exception." He smirked grimly as Fiona crouched on her knees.

"You lousy, cheap, moronic-" Scourge advanced on Sonic with every word.

"Funny you say that, asshole," I quipped, throwing a fist into Scourge's back. He let out a grunt of pain before slamming face-first into the dirt. I reached out my hand without moving anything else, and caught the remote in my hand. I clenched my fingers together and shattered it like my mirror. Fiona suddenly flew up and flip-kicked me in the forehead, drawing more blood from my wound. I stumbled backward, my back against the tall rock where Fiona had been sitting earlier, and gave her a glare.

"Take you hands off her," Sonic repeated dangerously, grabbing Fi's hand and twisting her wrist back. She moved away from us, clutching her pained wrist.

"Honey, this is coming apart quickly!" Fi cried at the evil hedgehog. The paint was beginning to fade and show off his green, back-quills, but the green was soon replaced by a dark purple mark. A bruise. Still, he smiled.

"Yeah. How about a little ex-vs-ex battle royale?" Scourge grinned. I clenched my teeth. Oh, no, he didn't.

"What?" Sonic looked puzzled. "I know that Fi and I are ex's, but-" He glanced at me. "You and Scourge?"

I bit my lower lip. Dang, things were gonna be awkward after winning this fight.

"Not were you expecting, huh, Blue-? AUGH!"

The green rodent automatically shut his trap once I pulled out my staff and slapped it against his arm. There was a bright mark as to where I smacked him. Instantly, I remembered the time while he was tossing me out, when he slapped me on the arm with a hot frying pan. The burn had left a circular, permanent scar on my arm.

"Think of this as payback," I snapped, gesturing to my own blemish. With dark eyes, I glared at Fiona. "What about you? Wanna go a couple rounds?"

"Shut up! Now, c'mon. Don't be unreasonable. Come with us."

"Oh, please. After all the shenanigans you just put me through, you expect me to go with you? Well, foxy, suck it up and face the consequences to your epic failure."

She glared at me, made a rude hand gesture, and jumped toward the two of us in blind fury. Sonic ducked and I arched my back, letting her fly gracefully over us. She slammed her head against the rock behind me, and fell to the floor, unconscious.

Scourge went completely ape-schnitzel from there. He ran toward us, and tackled Sonic to the dirt. Fiona's hand shot out suddenly, wrapped around my ankle, and twisted. I swore as she gave me a one-handed Indian burn. I grabbed her around the throat (she was conscious, but barely), and slammed her into the rock. I transformed into my fighting dress, and tightened my baseball cap onto my head.

"Make a move, biatch," I snarled, holding the staff up to her throat after shattering the rock she was up against into shards and aiming them at her. Her eyes narrowed, and looked past me. She was watching Sonic stand defensively, darting his eyes back and forth to find Scourge, who had disappeared. He suddenly darted from the bushes, holding the knife in both his hands and aiming it at the blue hero. Sonic luckily noticed and did a somersault to avoid being skewered. The knife plunged deep into the ground. Scourge swore and tried to yank the weapon out of the dirt, with much difficulty. I cast the rock shards at him while restraining the wriggling Fiona.

"Boo," I muttered to myself as the green hedgehog jumped in alarm before being blown into a nearby oak, the rock shards keeping his heeled sneakers and tuxedo jacket pinned against the tree. I pressed hard against Fi's throat, and watched her struggle and flail. Her face began to whiten at the sight of her barely-conscious boyfriend and lack of oxygen.

"Go ahead," she growled ferociously. "Kill me."

I pressed the staff deeper into her neck, tightening her wind pipe.

"Pan, don't!" Sonic yelled. I turned to stare at him. His emerald eyes stared at me. "Although they caused you trouble in the past, don't kill them. Or you'll be just like them."

He was right; I didn't want to stoop to their low. Plus, I could never kill any Mobian. How could I live with that for the rest of my life?

Coming to an agreement with myself, I released Fiona and watched her crumple. She clutched her aching throat.

"Get out of here, and tell your stupid boss that I'm a hell of a lot harder to kill than any of her minions could ever imagine."

She stared daggers at me, while I met her gaze. I smirked as she began pulling the sharpened rocks from the tree to release Scourge.

"I also suggest you come 'round once you rebuild your egos. I think that Sonic and I have a huge score to settle with the both of ya."

Fiona supported Scourge, gave me one final death look, and pulled out a ring. She flipped it into the air, and a glowing portal opened in front of them. Without a word, the two slinked inside.

"What did you see in that guy?" Sonic gaped at me, straightening his ripped jacket. He didn't look like the mess I probably appeared to be.

"Dunno. What did you see in Fi?"

He gave a small nod. "Touché." I reverted back to my normal form, and glanced at my blood-stained and slashed dress. I rubbed my face and saw pink makeup, blood, and dirt coat my ripped gloves.

"Guess that hour of work didn't exactly pay off for Aly, huh?" I said. He laughed, as I smiled warmly.

"I suppose not. And sorry for not telling you earlier, but you looked awesome."

"Um, no. It was way too girly. I plan to run away screaming if I ever see a tube of lipstick again."

He started up his laugh again, doubling over. I grinned and joined in with him.

"Pan!" a voice from the bushes called, as I felt Aly leap into my arms.

"We were worried about you two," Sally joined us.

"Ah, there's the bloodied-up gal we all know and love!" Dodge joked, giving me an award-winning smile.

"The bombs were disabled, thank goodness, and we immediately put the toxins we found into the lab so we can examine it later," Tails added, flying to Sonic's side.

"What happened to you, anyway? You look terrible!" Aly gasped, examining my dress.

"Thanks for the compliment," I muttered.

"Scourge and Fiona showed up. Apparently, they're part-time agents for the Dark Aurora Empire, who were trying to capture Pan by blackmailing her by endangering the city with those bombs," Sonic explained, crossing his arms.

"What?!" they all gasped, horrified.

"Apologies for the rush, but Azalea-san is having great difficulty in keeping the reporters at bay. We must make a quick re-entrance," Snow advised, popping into our conversation.

"Right, we'll explain more later. But for now, let's juice!" He blasted off, leaving us to scramble after him.

As we sped off, I noticed the knife impaled in the ground, still sticking up and glittering in the moonlight. Swiftly, I pulled out the weapon and stared at it. It was dull and stained brown with dirt and red at the tip with blood. There wasn't anything special about it, except for the strange symbol on the mahogany handle. A black circle, with a darker shade of black corkscrew in the backdrop.

_A souvenir_, I joked to myself, shoving the knife into a torn hole in my dress. This could come in handy. I stood back up, swallowed the faded, blood-smelling, night air, and ran after them.


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

**Intermission**

**Azalea's P.O.V.**

I don't know how politicians do it. Sure, being a leader of a group of demigods controlling the elements, I can handle. But I could not ever handle the stress put upon you as a political leader.

Flashes of cameras blinded me as I kept a quick and steady pace on answering questions the media had. Whether they were as deep as discussing us as regular Mobian citizens to as bizarre as asking how quick it would take cyrokinetic Snowlily to make ice cream, I answered them to the best of my ability. I took a sigh of relief once Ivy mentally said that they had found Sonic and Pan and they were back.

Easily, I thanked the public and stepped off stage as Sally stepped up and began forging an excuse as to their disappearance. I panted breathlessly as Bell jogged up to me with a glass of cold water in her hands.

"You were great, Lea," she complimented me, straightening out my neon-blue gown. I sighed and nodded my thanks to her, breathlessly, and watched the news report from the small television backstage.

"Sorry for the multiple interruptions. We've recently been having some, er, technical difficulties with keeping Robotnik out of our nanite system recently. We're all wiped, so I think I'm gonna cut this broadcast off right about now. Thank you for joining us. Good night."

Applause and _more _questions followed the princess (God, don't they ever stop? It's relentless!) as she scurried off stage. The rest of the other Fighters entered from a door just behind the stage. Every other Fighter milling about in the crowd had rejoined once the interview ended. Crew men worked to put away equipment as we joined together.

"We'll keep this part of the mess in check until Elias and I can get a speech written. For now, keep it in the black, though, alright?" That was what Sally said after summarizing what had happened with Pan and Sonic.

"Fine with me; I'm beat. I mean, I was popular with the musical crowd at school, but man, everyone was after Wendell and I, Ivy," Maroon sighed, stretching his back. "They're all in shock at what you said earlier."

The green mongoose sighed. "Yes, I will have to suffer consequences eventually. For now, however, shouldn't we be relaxing? Or, in Pan's case, getting a doctor to bandage up those wounds?"

Indeed, Pan was in shredded clothes and bloody. She looked more like a street rat.

"Agreed. I guess that now, we just tell Nicole to heighten the security around here just in case, and try to relax the rest of the evening."

We all supported that motion. As we all disbanded, I caught Bell's eye.

"Wow, Mobius really is full of adventure, huh?"

"Yeah; although, the boring life back home sounds much more comforting."

She giggled, flexing her new-robotic limbs. "Yeah… not sure if I'll ever get used to these, though."

I smiled. "Don't worry. We'll find a cure. I guarantee it."

"Hopefully. Oh, good. Pan's being taken care of." I followed Bell's gaze, and saw her limping out the door, supported by Sonic. They'd probably be going back to base.

"Pan better be OK. She's a tough cookie; probably tougher than the bullies back home."

Bell sighed. "What?" I asked.

"You say 'back home' like we're never going back."

I squeezed her. "Ah, don't worry 'bout it. We will head back. Trust me."

She nodded. "Fine. Well, what are we waiting here for? Let's paaartay!"


	33. Chapter 33

**To keep things short and sweet, I hope everyone has liked these past few days' posts! I've been running myself ragged for you guys, so I hope you appreciate the effort, even though the chapters are minor.**

**And caution: Sonic x Pan fluff ahead! (Realized their couple name could be Panic. XD) Anyways, here it is!**

* * *

**Chapter 33**

**Pain**

**Pansy's P.O.V.**

After the short and sweet broadcast Sally reported, Sonic and I decided to head back to base to clean up our wounds. The burn Fiona gave me freakin' hurt, so Sonic was kind enough to help me limp back with him. The night air seemed fresher after the slightly-bloody battle with the evil couple and the stuffy dance room.

As we walked, a small group of teen Mobians noticed us and the injuries we were bearing. Whispers rippled. They hiding beer bottles behind their backs, so I wasn't sure if they were more nervous about two popular names hobbling past them, or if they thought we were going to report them for drinking illegally. Angrily, I glared at them, and growled, "What're you lookin' at? Can't a guy and a gal walk in peace?"

While Sonic continued helping me along, the staring group turned into a condensed circle and began to whisper to each other. I was quite aggravated with them.

"Um, Pan? You're kinda deforming my quills."

"Jeez, sorry," I apologized, releasing his back-quill and jolting back. It looked a bit bent out of shape, and I gave him a lop-sided smile. He took his free hand and stroked it over his quill, putting it back into place.

As I watched, a small pain suddenly struck my hip. I winced to myself, and saw the knife had pricked my flesh and drew tiny droplets of blood, which danced down my leg. Sonic noticed and shook his head. He heaved a heavy sigh.

"Freedom HQ is too far away." He grinned mischievously and went into a lunging position. "I'm taking you to my home," he said, sweeping me off my feet.

"Uh, pardon?" I was totally lost. In response, he advised, "Hold onto your lunch."

"Whaaa-?!" I cried, folding my arms into my chest. My scream was torn away from me by the cold wind piercing my body. He had blasted off, as the familiar sight of warping colors caught my eye. He was reaching high speeds as he whirled around city blocks and took sharp turns around corners. For sure, though, he was right about holding onto my lunch.

In about… five seconds, we reached a small hut, much like the others around the city. He walked past a wooden mailbox with "the Hedgehogs" carved into the side. A key fell out of his glove cuff, and he clicked open the door. The house was dark and quiet, except for us.

"Muttski?" Sonic whistled. The yellow-brown dog bounded into the dark room, wagging his tail and giving a small bark. A light suddenly clicked open, and three familiar hedgehogs stepped into the living room.

"Oh, Sonic! Don't scare us like that!" Mrs. Hedgehog exclaimed, leaning against the doorway. She, as well as the two Mr. Hedgehogs, were in their pajamas (I found it amusing that Robian Mr. Hedgehog was wearing a nightcap despite the fact he was a robot, though), looking quite worried when they saw the state we were both in.

"You're Pansy, right?" Charles guessed. I nodded, and winced when I placed my foot on the carpet to support myself as Sonic placed me gently back on the ground.

"Oh my goodness! What happened to you two?!" Mrs. Hedgehog gasped.

"We had a little run-in from Scourge and Fiona," he growled. "They were planning to bomb the party. We stopped them before any real damage could be done to the citizens, though."

The three glanced at each other nervously as I pressed my torn glove against the wall for support. Even Muttski seemed to sense something was wrong.

"I'll get the first-aid kit," she exclaimed, darting down the hall. Sonic and I managed to flop onto the couch, exhausted.

"Thanks for doing this, Sonic. You too, Mr. Hedgehog, and um… Mr. Hedgehog."

The two laughed. "Please, just call us by our first names. No need to be so formal."

I sighed, and bobbed my head up and down. Muttski, in concern, pushed against my hand and licked it. I scratched under his collar, and he panted cheerfully. I giggled.

"Glad you like Muttski. He's been through an awful lot," Sonic sighed, pulling off his tuxedo jacket and collared shirt. "So why didn't you guys go?"

"We could watch it well enough from the TV. I'm getting too old to deal with the stuff that kids your age have to go through," Chuck joked, winking at us. We laughed as Bernie walked back out with a medical kit.

"Sonic, I don't understand why you didn't take her to the hospital," she exhaled quietly, brushing some blonde hair from her face. I clenched my fist against the couch armrest, then heard a few tweeks from inside the couch.

"Um, Mom? No go on the hospital," Sonic suggested. She sighed, and began dotting alcohol on my forehead. I winced, but Muttski kept me distracted by nibbling on my fingers and doing tricks at Sonic's command. Once Bernie cleaned and bandaged everything up, she moved onto Sonic. His injuries were less serious, and Chuck had made some of his trademark chili-dogs, so we were finally able to start a casual conversation. And what was the first thing Sonic asked that made it not-so-casual?

"How on Mobius were you and Scourge a couple?"

The three relatives froze, and gawked at me. I grimaced. "Way to drop a bombshell, Sonic. And it's a whole thing. I don't think you'd want to-"

"Well, have at it then! Enough with the suspense," he interrupted.

"Sonic!" Bernie quipped harshly. I frowned, and heaved a sigh.

"Nah, it's alright. I guess I should get to some explanations…"

And so, I talked about everything that had happened to me with the anti-Mobius (refer back to Chapter 5 for more depth). They were completely shocked.

"That's terrible!" Bernie had tears in her eyes, and hugged me tight. It was hard to believe that she was more upset about it that I was.

"Well, considering I've been raising myself on the streets since I was nine, I was bound to run into some trouble."

"What happened to your father, then?" Sonic nervously asked. I took a glance at him and his family. That was something I hadn't taken a damn to in a while. I glanced down at my heels, and wiped my nose silently.

"Let's just say, always remember you have this great family for ya here, and that they're not lightyears away or murdered by you."

The silence was so tense, you could hear a pin drop. Finally, Jules broke the silence by directing me to the guest room down the hallway. I thanked them and went without a word down the hall.

The door clicked behind me, but soon reopened suddenly as Sonic followed me. We were silent for a moment, and then he held out a pile of folded, purple silk.

"A nightgown," he answered the question in my mind. I took it from his hands, nodded my thanks, then turned around to walk to the connecting restroom.

"Pan, wait." He grabbed my wrist, and I turned to face him.

"What?"

"I'm… sorry, for what I said earlier. I'm just so tired, and baffled."

I raised an eyebrow and lightly punched his arm. "Wow. I'd never thought I'd live to see the day where Sonic the Hedgehog willingly admits his mistakes."

"Don't get too used to it!" he joked. I chuckled, and ruffled his quills.

"I'm hitting the hay. Tell Nicole to let the others know where I am."

He nodded and saluted. "Yes, ma'am!"

I shoved him out of the room. "Now, get outta here. I just want to change out of these clothes. Besides, it's awkward and creepy that you just casually sauntered into this room, perv!"

He laughed. "Fine, fine. G'night." His glove brushed my shredded one, tickling my skin. I blushed to myself and closed the door with a click. In a blur, I changed into the PJ's, then slammed headfirst into the bed. Uggh. Bless the soul of the person who invented the bed.


	34. Chapter 34

**Agh, lateness. Wait, how ca I be late during the summer? huh. I'll have to think about that.**

**Anyways, here is the late chapter and the next one will be out really soon. Like, really, _really _soon! And caution: OC fluff is approaching! -Core**

* * *

**Chapter 34**

**Wake-Up Call**

**Pansy's P.O.V.**

And screw the genius who invented the alarm clock.

The loud blaring from the tiny clock drove me awake. I had slept relatively peacefully for once, meaning that there were no loud noises or creepy nightmares to bring me back to the cruel, cold reality of my life. Unfortunately, since I had been so peaceful sleeping, I was in complete zombie mode. I trudged into the bathroom, and gave myself a quick overview. The wounds seemed to be healing well, and I hadn't lost a large amount of blood. I scratched the bandages on my forehead lightly, pulling out bangs stuck to the paper wrap. Other than that, I was decently presentable.

"Sleep well?" Jules asked, glancing up at me from his newspaper. I nodded and slumped into a chair at the kitchen table.

"Yeah, thanks," I yawned. Bernie was busily making some pancakes and bacon for us, and I noticed Sonic and Chuck were missing.

"The two are out walking Muttski," Jules informed me, as if he had read my mind. He passed me the front page and said, "Read the article on page 2."

Following his advice, I flipped to the page and stared at the headline.

_Editor's Note: Banquet Details, Most Wanted Mobian and Speedy Hero Still M.I.A. on Opinions_

_Last night's banquet was, in some ways, a complete success. The world was informed of the surprising potential in this group of fighters, who turn out to be descendents from extraterrestrial gods of the elements. Mobius is baffled by the sudden appearance of newcomers, who, for reasons unknown, have only now decided to become legal protectors of the planet. Also, the royal veiling of the eight team members and their four male comrades was announced, and is scheduled to take place at Castle Acorn tomorrow at 4 in the afternoon precisely._

_More recent updates have proven that each individual, be it the New Mobotropolis Freedom Fighters or the Elemental Demigoddesses, has their own opinion that has been expressed. Whether it's the topics of the other world in which they came and experiences with the yet-to-be-released information on their own nemesis (since the public already has enough to swallow), or about the incredible power proven they can use, each member has added their own thoughts. _

_This brings us to our next piece of info: Why haven't Sonic or Pansy expressed their own reflection towards this chaotic mess? Civilians report that Pan and Sonic did appear at the dance, but left and didn't return for the rest of the night. Evidence has led us to believe that Pan and Sonic are in the middle of an affair, much to the shock of the public._

"_I noticed the two of them, like, walking together while I was hanging with my friends. All of us were kinda shocked at the sight of it, but she simply gave us a few snarky comments, and walked off. I mean, like, what is up with that?" says Ernestine of the aristocratic Weaseltons._

_The public has known for sometime that Sonic and Sally have called it splits, but Sonic, now is not the time to go find yourself a girlfriend! Especially one with her record. So, will we ever get their thoughts on this confusing web of newcomers, both friends and enemies? Or will they be too busy making gaga eyes at each other to care?_

"Um, Pan?" Bernie gulped, watching my temper slowly reach the breaking point. What the hell?! What was the media thinking?! Those cheap, worthless pieces of garbage who couldn't find anything better to do with their lives were writing about Sonic and me? In LOVE?!

OK, so maybe I was in love with him... but still! They didn't have any proof to make accusations. At least, not solid proof.

"Pansy, please don't murder the paper; I was planning to leave the sports section later," Jules advised me, as I lightened my tightening fist around the black-and-white report. "And I know how difficult this is for you. Actually, you're handling it better than Sonic did. He broke one of our china plates." The Robian sighed at the memory. "Chuck took him out for some fresh air, and also because Muttski has been cooped up in the house for some time."

"I'm gonna go find them," I growled, trying to keep my temper under management.

"Wait a minute. Eat something first and get some cleaner clothes on. Going out to find him in your nightgown probably wouldn't be the wisest thing to do." Bernie placed some breakfast in front of me, along with silverware and a napkin. I sighed in content as I took my first mouthful.

"Thanks. Ya know, Sonic is really lucky to have such good parents," I said between mouthfuls. The two looked at each other and smiled.

"Well, we do try," Jules said.

"Here, some clothes for you when you change and shower," Bernie smiled warmly, handing me a folded pile of clothes. I swallowed my last mouthful, and carried the dishes to the sink before taking her clothes.

"Thank you so much."

"You're welcome, dear. And don't worry, things like this aren't usually lingered on for a while. They always find some new material to write about."

I nodded in understanding as I walked into my room. I placed the clothes on the bed, and pulled off my nightclothes. I took a hot shower to wash off my stress and grime, which helped a lot, and re-bandaged myself up. I pulled a fuzzy towel around my body and stepped out of the bathroom. My fur dripped hot water onto the floor as I undid the towel and pulled the new clothes gently over my wounds. The pair of jeans fit snugly on my legs, and the loose, purple tee felt smooth against my fur. I pulled on my socks and sneakers before tying my hair up in a mini bun, and plopping my cap over my hair. I cleaned up the rooms before stepping back out into the hall.

"Augh!" I screamed as Muttski almost ran me down. I flopped on my butt, and groaned in pain. I glared at him, and he stared at me blankly, wagging his tail and barking.

"Muttski…" I muttered, standing back up.

"Hey, good to see you're up and awake," Sonic greeted me grimly, helping me to my feet. "You saw the article?"

"Yep. It's pretty stupid how the media makes such a stupid inference like that."

"Totally."

"Don't start this now, sonny. Actually, you should probably head back to HQ to see what happened while you were out," Chuck advised, scratching Muttski under his ears.

I sighed. "I'm dreading that conversation. Seriously, though, thank you so much for everything."

"No problem. Oh, and Pan, I fixed your dress." Bernie held out the stitched gown to me. "I wasn't able to scavenge the other accessories, but I saved this."

"Ah, you really shouldn't have," I shook my head in astonishment, picking up the dress. _No, really, you shouldn't have. They're gonna make me wear this bullcrap dress again, _I thought bitterly.

"Thanks, Mom 'n' Dad. Bye, Unc! Muttski, be good!" Sonic waved, opening the front door for the both of us.

"Pan, come here anytime you need us!" Jules called. "We'll be here for you!"

"I will!" I responded. Sonic locked the door and we began to walk in silence.

"Your folks are really nice," I complimented, pulling out my bun and letting my hair flop against my neck.

"Mmm." He seemed to be deep in thought.

Silence.

"So. Lovely weather, we're having, huh?" I tried to start a conversation.

"Pan, I need to ask you something, and I need you to answer, honestly."

"What?"

"Remember that time, when we were on Angel Island and Scourge and Fiona were there?"

My heart sank. "Yeah?"

"Were they serious about you having feelings for me?"

"Erk." Awkward.

I stopped mid-stride, and bit the inside of my cheek. He stopped too, and watched my face closely as my cheeks heated up.

"N-ye-no-yeah," I stuttered. Blood was boiling the skin on my face, so my cheeks were glowing bright red. He gave a small smile that blossomed into a small chuckle.

"What's so funny?"

"I can't believe it took you this long to make your decision. Plus, your face is hilarious!"

He fell into hysterics from there. I hardened my jaw, pulled out my staff, and slapped him over the head with it. The awkward feeling was certainly gone.

"Ow!" he cried, still laughing even though a lump was forming on his head.

The blush disappeared as I stormed off. He heaved after me while chortling like a diseased hyena.

"Seriously, though…thanks for…finally being…honest," he gasped as we stepped around townspeople to head out of the city.

"I suppose I was stringing you by your fingers long enough," I shrugged. "So, what do we do now?"

Stiffly, he put his hand in mine. "First, we should explain to everyone what's going on, since they're probably wondering why we didn't check back in with them last-"

"Look! There they are!"

A flood of Mobian heads turned in our direction as they began exclaiming our names and questions at us. A mob of paparazzi violently began pushing others aside to get a snapshot of us. We couldn't get caught in a sea of desperate writers now. We needed to get back to everyone else.

"-night," Sonic finished nervously as the crowd began to advance on us. Only one word came to mind as he and I took a glance at each other.

"RUN!" I cried at him, dashing away from the mob.

"Don't have to tell me twice!" he responded cockily. The two of us picked up steam, speeding away from the camera flashes and desperate photographers.

"OK, of all the things on my bucket list of what to do when I die, getting chased by hungry reporters and journalist was NOT one of them!" I screamed at Sonic over the roar of fangirls and magazine columnists. My injuries and bruises were starting to hurt, but I continued pumping my arms and legs to keep up with him.

"Grab hold!" he yelled, reaching out to grab my hand. I snatched his forearm and squeezed, as he did the same to me. For a millisecond, he screeched to a halt. Then, he revved his feet to create his trademark figure-8 dash, and blasted forward. A white mach-cone formed in front of him, as a deafening roar blasted into my ear. I was weightless as I reached forward and tightened both hands onto his arm. Breath wouldn't come to me as he ran faster than ever before.

"Did we break the sound barrier?!" I roared over the blast.

"Yeah!" he responded. I took a glance behind me; the mass of Mobians had stopped, giving up. They knew it was a lost cause to try and keep up with Sonic the Hedgehog.

"We did it!" I informed him as we finally darted past the city gate.

"Yep! And here we are!"

He pushed out his feet, and screeched to a sudden halt. My feet felt the ground again, and I exhaled. Freedom HQ at last. The speedy hero panted lightly, leaning against the dirt wall of the base for support.

"There you two are!" Maroon opened the front door to the hut where the other seven girls and I were living in. The red hedgehog held a quill brush in his right hand, and a sheet of music in his left. He blew a bubble with the red gum he was chewing before sucking the bubble back into his mouth and popping it with his teeth. Sonic gave him a light smile after regaining his composure.

"What's happening?" the cobalt hedgehog questioned.

Maroon threw up his hands. "You'll never believe what we read in the newspaper!"

The victory mood between us vanished into thin air. "We know."

"Wait, what?"

"The two of us were staying at my family's place to freshen ourselves up," Sonic said.

"That's where we saw the damn article." I tightened my baseball cap onto my head (somehow, it hadn't flown away).

He put his arms back down. "Oh. Then you read all about-?"

I crossed my arms. "Yeah."

"While it is true, it wasn't exactly kind of them to accuse us of being lovey-dovey. Besides, we aren't going completely gaga over each other. Yet."

Maroon gagged on his chewing gum. "Wait a minute. You guys like-like each other?"

"Uh-huh," we answered in unison.

He grinned and did a jumpshot. "YES!"

Sonic stepped back. "Wow, dude, you're really happy for us. Is everyone else going to be like that, too?"

"I dunno, but since you _are_ going out now, Wendell owes me 20 Rings!"

"You guys bet on us?" I sighed.

"Well, yeah. The two of us bet on everything."

"Happy moment is officially ruined," Sonic muttered. Maroon laughed, and moved his head into the doorway, and shouted, "Hey, Wendell, you lost the bet!"

"What?! Aw, c'mon, seriously?" he called in reply.

"You jerks!" I yelled, laughing lightly with Sonic.

Maroon grinned, and grabbed our wrists. "Get inside. All of us want to hear everything that happened!"

He dragged us inside the connecting hut, and through the connecting nanite tunnel into the living room. Everyone had their attention focused on us.

"OMG! You guys got together!" Aly squealed, flying over to us and squeezing us into a death grip hug. "I'm so happy for you!"

"Ow, Aly," I choked. She released us as we gulped for air like a fish on land.

"We received the message from Nicole once we returned from the celebration. It's good to see that you healed your injuries, mostly," Snowlily commented, tightening her leather belt around her long, black skirt.

"So, what happened between you two?" Mari bubbled.

"Yeah, what made me lose twenty Rings?" Wendell teased, passing Maroon a handful of tiny golden Rings.

"Well, we just went back, chatted a bit with his parents, bandaged ourselves up, slept, and narrowly avoided being tackled by a group of reporters. So, I think that it just, sorta, happened, ya know?"

The girls let out a synchronized "Aw!", whereas the guys began singing and mocking us. Snowlily and Wisp were the only ones not joining in the charade. They simply shared a glance, muttering to themselves about how immature we were. We blushed a bright red as Maroon, Wendell, Dodge, and Tails sang about us kissing in a tree. That was technically true. Except for that fact that the tree was a supporting-roof beam in a religious shrine in Eurasia.

"And, unfortunately, Scourge and Fi did kinda get the truth about my feelings for him out of me, in addition to the fact that they know about our possession of the green Aura Stone."

The happy mood evaporated. "WHAT?!" everyone gasped, horrified.

I shrugged. "They threatened to set off those bombs, so what choice did I have?"

"_Arema!*" _Snowlily gasped.

"Tails, we better go heighten the security on that thing!"

He nodded at Ivy's suggestion, and the two geeks began dashing off to the _Hurricane._

"We better be more careful 'en," Bunnie gulped.

"Agreed," Antoine added.

"Yeah, and find those Aura Stones before the Empress does!" Sally finished. A determined look appeared on her face. "So, we are now focusing on protecting Mobius from Robotnik and the Empress, and finding the Stones and the Chaos Emeralds. We'll certainly be needing their support."

"We heard everything, and we most certainly agree," ivy cried, running back into the room behind Tails.

"After you eight are dubbed official fighters, and we learn a bit more about you-" She glanced at Bloss and Poppy. "-the stakes will be higher than ever before. What do you say?"

All of us took glances at each other before nodding in agreement.

"Then let's show those two diabolical freaks what we're made of!"


	35. Chapter 35

**FINAL EXTRA CHAPTER HAS BEEN COMPLETED! WHOO! :D**

**Thank goodness this chappie is out...even though it's late. :P**

**Anyhoo, I hope everyone enjoyed this 8-chapter streak, cuz I am wiped. Good thing we're going on a five-day vacation...although it has to do with family passings. So, yeah, I won't be posting this week. Maybe next Sunday. Maybe.**

**Quick notes: This chapter is kind of like a preview for Ivy's solo story, which I will be working on while on vaca' (hopefully). Be sure to keep an eye out for that! And I will, eventually, have a solo story for every demigoddess. This is Ivy's. And special acknowledgement to **Zgirl101 **for her constant reviews! You rock like a double rainbow! :) If anyone else has time, be sure to give me feedback. (Last note, in the last chapter, I used a Japanese word called 'arema'. Basically, it means something 'Goodness!' or 'Gracious!'. Something Snowlily would say since she's super proper.)**

* * *

**Chapter 35**

**Entwined**

**Ivy's P.O.V.**

"_WHAT?!"_

"_Sorry. We didn't get the job accomplished."_

"_This is your last chance to do something right. The info isn't enough; I need the actual Stone. And I'm sending her with you."_

"_Hrrk!"_

"_Get it done, or I will make your death as painful as possible."_

I gasped, shooting up like a rocket in my bed. My mind was spinning like a top. I grasped my head. I knew that I had enough on my platter as it was, but I should've let them know earlier that the dreams we had weren't just flashbacks, but also possible futures that sometimes cam true, sometimes didn't.

All I heard in my head were those voices, but they sounded like Scourge, Fiona, and an odd feminine voice which sounded more serpentine-like and garbled compared to that of a Mobian's or Overlander's.

"Ivy?" Wendell's voice echoed through the door and into my ears. He was barely audible. "Are you awake?"

"Yes," I responded, pushing the covers off my body and clutching the buttons on my button-up pajama top. My legs shivered as the cold morning air stung my skin and fur.

"Can I come in? I need to talk to you about something."

Cautiously, I frowned. I took a glance at the clock. It was four in the morning. "Um, sure."

Wendell opened the door and stepped into the room. His black hair seemed even more tussled than usual, and there were dark circles under his eyes.

"You haven't been sleeping well, either?" he sighed.

"No," I yawned, rubbing my eyes. "Ever since I met the other seven girls, my curfew hasn't been cooperating with my brain."

"I've been lying awake every night in bed, ever since I met Wisp and Dodge," he frowned, plopping down next to me and placing a kiss on my forehead. He looked at me. "Do you think that there might be some connection between me, Maroon, and them?"

"It's entirely possible. Maybe I'll research to see if the demigoddesses had any allies."

He put his head in his hands, and moaned loudly and over-sarcastically. "Sometimes, I think being your friend is more trouble than it's worth."

I shook my head and shoved him. "Oh, like you're one to talk," I fired back.

He gave me a wide smile. Then, his smile vanished. "Ivy, what did you see what Maroon had yesterday?"

"Honestly, no. I was too busy focusing on the fact that Sonic and Pan are basically a couple now, the stupid thing I said about public education during my own interview, and the sudden appearance of Scourge and Fiona."

"Well, that makes sense," he shrugged. "But seriously, did you see that sheet of music Maroon was holding?"

"Yes, it was his band music. He does need to practice his tuba."

"That's besides the point. He had written a note on that paper."

I frowned. "What are you talking about?"

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded slip of paper. He unraveled it, and handed it to me.

"'March of the Acorns'. It's the family's specially composed anthem written once the first king, Alexander, was crowned ruler of Mobius several centuries ago." I rattled off the information from memory off our history textbook. I glanced down at the page corner. In Maroon's obscure writing, I could make out the notes he had put.

"Wendell, this is just talking about breathing and fingerings," I commented as I scanned the scribbled words. Then, I came upon what Wendell meant:

_**Remember to tell Wend and Ives about my historical traces.**_

"What's this?" I wondered.

"Well, I snuck into the fighters' laboratory and found something on Nicole's computer. Maroon checked out a library book discussing updated political issues. It also had an updated family tree of the rulers of small countries located around Mobius. Turns out, Maroon was researching something about his past."

I raised a brow in interest. "Wow, Maroon must really be keen on finding whatever it is he's after. He's never loved books, let alone check out one about separate governments from the library."

Wendell nodded. "As I dug deeper, I stole the book for a short while and read the notes he lightly scribbled throughout the book's pages."

My mind drank the info like a thirsty bird to a pitcher of water. "And?"

"Maroon is a descendent of royalty."

I covered my mouth in shock. "WHAT?!"

"Apparently, the late king of Mercia had an affair with one of the village-women." I frowned. Mercia was a country in the western part of Eurasia, where they spoke old English and had rich histories of knights, architecture, and culture. "They didn't discover this long after he passed, and also uncovered the location of the pregnant lady. She'd moved to Feral Forest, remarried another man who knew of her predicament and kept her hidden. Then she had the child, who she named Marius." He took another paper from his PJ pocket, and placed it in my open hand. It was a little, pure-bred, red hedgehog-baby being held in the arms of a tired-looking red hedgehog maiden.

"Maroon," I gasped.

He passed the picture to me. My hands trembled. "Why hasn't he ever told us?"

"If the information got to the wrong ears, Maroon would be taken prisoner. He'd be shipped back to Mercia, where he would either be executed on the spot for disgracing royal blood, or shipped to another family as a slave for life."

"Oh no, Maroon, why?" I hugged Wendell tightly. "How could he have lived with this for so long?"

"I don't know, Ives. He's suffered so much." He stood, and grabbed my hands. "We need to help him in any way we can."

"Yes, but how?"

He sighed. "Haven't exactly figured that part out yet."

"I have."

Nicole appeared behind us suddenly. We were in too much shock to truly be scared.

"I've come up with a solution. The two of you can fly out to Mercia with Maroon, after explaining how you found this information, and you can take some help with you. I would suggest Amy Rose, because she is of royal blood."

Both of us were surprised. "Amy?"

"Yes. Her parents went missing some years ago, but her father was brother to the current ruler of Mercia, Rob O' the Hedge. So, she and Maroon are distant relatives."

"Geez," Wendell muttered, shocked as much as me.

"As I was saying, maybe you could travel to the kingdom and explain yourselves to the King Rob O'. He is usually quite cooperative and understanding, so maybe you can come to terms and find a way to lift the price on Maroon's head."

"And while we're there, maybe we could extract information on recent Shade Demon occurrences there," I added.

"That's brilliant!" Wendell exclaimed, trying to lower his volume since it was so early. "After the ceremony today, we can propose the motion and see if it flies."

Nicole nodded. "Splendid. We'll discuss more later, yes?"

"Yeah. Thanks so much!"

She disappeared just as suddenly as she appeared. I shook my head and gave a small chuckle. "I swear, ever since I met those girls, things have been going crazy, what with all these discoveries."

Wendell placed a warm kiss on my lips, and I grinned. It was hard to believe that in the midst of all this chaos, he had finally asked me to be his girlfriend. I was completely happy with the gesture, as long as he didn't interrupt my studies.

"We'll just have to wait and see what the others say. I hope Maroon won't be mad with us."

"He'll understand," I assured him, poking us nose. "I think."

Wendell stood and I handed him back the pictures. His hand tussled his hair, and he smiled warmly.

"Now, how about we head to the library to learn a bit about Mercian culture before you're officially declared a Freedom Fighter?" he suggested.

A smile curved up my lips. "I thought you'd never ask."


End file.
